Is iedereen blind? Het ligt er toch bovenarms op dat Freya goed wist wat ze zei tijdens het interview van Vrij Nederland en even goed wat de reactie ging zijn. Indien ze zich enkel had gehouden aan inhoudelijke kritiek had niemand het opgemerkt. Nu hebben de mensen ook gehoord dat het beleid van het kabinet Balkenende zowel economisch als ethisch behoorlijk rechts is*. 'Don't hate the media, play the media' is Freya's motto.
*
- Gerrit Zalm , de ongelooflijk arrogante Min. V. Financiën, is de lagere en middenklasse aan het uitzuigen dat zelfs demente Maggie Thatcher er jaloers op is.
- Gezondheidszorg wordt geschoeid op Amerikaanse leest, d.w.z. minder efficiënt en toch stukken duurder.
- Wanneer uitgeprocedeerde asielzoekers teruggestuurd worden naar land/hel van herkomst, wordt doodleuk meegedeeld aan de regering in kwestie dat de 'asielzoekers' terug zijn. Haal die testikelklemmen alvast maar uit de kast, sergeant!
Tot slot dit: heb je een Nederlandse politicus van de CDA of VVD al eens een interview zien geven in het journaal? Geen jota snap je van wat die gozers zeggen, en vooral niet op de vraag antwoorden hé. Dan mogen wij nog van geluk spreken dat we kleurrijke politici hebben. In Vlaanderen zou Pim Fortuyn Johnny Sjans heten en zou hij een onbekende backbencher zijn die misschien al eens een wetsvoorstel voor homo-adoptie heeft mee ondertekend. En bovendien zou hij nog leven.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Find the band names.
This is for my fellow popmusic buffs. Follow this link and you will see an illustration with 74 band names hidden in it. http://ad-rag.com/125761.php Let me know how you' re doing.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
GWB: the Great Discriminator
In a recent trip to China, U.S. President Bush appealed to Beijing to improve religious freedom, but as usual his comments reveal favoritism.
His most cited quotes : 'May God bless the Christians in China' and 'My hope is that the government of China will not fear Christians who gather to worship openly'.
What about the other religions being clandestinely practiced in China? Is President Bush tacitly condoning the persecution of China's many Buddhists, muslims, followers of Falun Gong, and other non-Christian religions?
Most people are taught that God loves every creature, great or small. Every time the President of the world's superpower utters the phrase 'God bless America', the rest of the world feels excluded.
His most cited quotes : 'May God bless the Christians in China' and 'My hope is that the government of China will not fear Christians who gather to worship openly'.
What about the other religions being clandestinely practiced in China? Is President Bush tacitly condoning the persecution of China's many Buddhists, muslims, followers of Falun Gong, and other non-Christian religions?
Most people are taught that God loves every creature, great or small. Every time the President of the world's superpower utters the phrase 'God bless America', the rest of the world feels excluded.
Respect to the single parent.
Since two weeks, my lovely wife has been hospitalized and last Thursday gave birth to two healthy boys, Leon & Just. Very exciting ofcourse , I can't wait until they can come home and we can be one big happy family again. For the last two weeks, I have been taking care of my other two kids, Arnout (nearly 5yrs) and Maurice (3yrs). The experience has been great but exhausting and I have gained a deeper insight in what it's like to be a single parent.
Most nights, I feel like something the cat dragged in; I am convinced it's tougher than being CEO of a big European bank because there is no delegating, outsourcing or outside consulting to do your work for you. There are no meetings which means you have to take the decisions yourself instead of 'per committee' and you can't go looking for a scapegoat when something goes wrong. The financial rewards are shite (zero actually) and there is no army of dedicated followers nodding yes to every remark you make , no matter how stupid. Parenthood is the least hyped activity one can do (it's not even considered to be 'work') and still it's the most important job you will ever do.
Most nights, I feel like something the cat dragged in; I am convinced it's tougher than being CEO of a big European bank because there is no delegating, outsourcing or outside consulting to do your work for you. There are no meetings which means you have to take the decisions yourself instead of 'per committee' and you can't go looking for a scapegoat when something goes wrong. The financial rewards are shite (zero actually) and there is no army of dedicated followers nodding yes to every remark you make , no matter how stupid. Parenthood is the least hyped activity one can do (it's not even considered to be 'work') and still it's the most important job you will ever do.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
How many species live on or in the human body?
The short answer is about 200, including 80 in the mouth alone. The total number of bacteria excreted by the body every day ranges from 100 billion to 100 trillion. Every square centimetre of human bowel is home to around 10 billion microbes. Some 10 million organisms occupy every square centimetre of flesh. The most densely populated areas of the human body are the teeth, throat and alimentary tract, where the concentrations are increased by a thousand compared to bare skin. But while such figures seem huge, it has been calculated that the amount of bacteria on the skin of the average human would be the same size as a pea.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Dictionary of BS
This is taken from the 'Dictionary of BullShit' by Nick Webb. My kind of humour.
Customer service (np.)
With a few exceptions, companies lose interest after the sale. Nothing dramatises this more than the anguish of the telephone call you attempt to make after the newly acquired dishwasher or computer has gone wrong. The call will lead you to an automated voice management system designed to direct you with maximum speed to the right department. The phone will play you homogenised Mozart or - even worse - cover versions of rock 'n' roll. Every two minutes an automated voice will thank you for your patience and assure you that your call is important. You yell, but in voice management space there is nobody to hear you scream.
Public Relations/PR (np.)
Satan wasn't so bad; he just had a bad press. Corporations are similar. It's often easier to fix the perception of the problem than the problem itself.
Accountability (abstract n.)
A mysterious virtue that all politicians claim to possess until the time comes to demonstrate it.
Buy one, get one free (enduring sales pitch)
Buy twice as many as you want at a price that still gives the retailer a profit, if only because the supplier has been bullied into funding the promotion.
Designer (n. and adj.)
You can buy a pair of jeans in a supermarket for as little as £4, or you can pay 25 times that much for a "designer" pair. Both are made in factories in the Far East by nimble-fingered women and girls working long hours on minimal wages. Possibly they are made in the same factories. The difference between the jeans lies in the stitching over the pockets, possibly the weight of the cotton and certainly the boost to the self-esteem of those who can afford the expensive versions.
Instant classic (marketing hype)
An oxymoron. (in Dutch: 'pleonasme')
Grow as a person (v. phrase)
This is a good thing to do. Growing as something else would not be so good.
Customer service (np.)
With a few exceptions, companies lose interest after the sale. Nothing dramatises this more than the anguish of the telephone call you attempt to make after the newly acquired dishwasher or computer has gone wrong. The call will lead you to an automated voice management system designed to direct you with maximum speed to the right department. The phone will play you homogenised Mozart or - even worse - cover versions of rock 'n' roll. Every two minutes an automated voice will thank you for your patience and assure you that your call is important. You yell, but in voice management space there is nobody to hear you scream.
Public Relations/PR (np.)
Satan wasn't so bad; he just had a bad press. Corporations are similar. It's often easier to fix the perception of the problem than the problem itself.
Accountability (abstract n.)
A mysterious virtue that all politicians claim to possess until the time comes to demonstrate it.
Buy one, get one free (enduring sales pitch)
Buy twice as many as you want at a price that still gives the retailer a profit, if only because the supplier has been bullied into funding the promotion.
Designer (n. and adj.)
You can buy a pair of jeans in a supermarket for as little as £4, or you can pay 25 times that much for a "designer" pair. Both are made in factories in the Far East by nimble-fingered women and girls working long hours on minimal wages. Possibly they are made in the same factories. The difference between the jeans lies in the stitching over the pockets, possibly the weight of the cotton and certainly the boost to the self-esteem of those who can afford the expensive versions.
Instant classic (marketing hype)
An oxymoron. (in Dutch: 'pleonasme')
Grow as a person (v. phrase)
This is a good thing to do. Growing as something else would not be so good.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Does beheading hurt?
Yes, but it's over quickly.:)
A medical study in 1983 concluded that no matter how efficient the method of execution, a few seconds of pain is inevitable when losing one's head. The guillotine, considered one of the more "humane" methods, relies on severing the brain and spinal cord after cutting the surrounding tissues. Even so, at least two to three seconds of intense pain cannot be avoided. There are many accounts of the heads of executed people continuing to show movement or expression long after the final blow. One particularly gruesome experiment in 1905 involved a French physician who called out the name of the condemned man in the seconds after decapitation. The response was for the eyelids over the severed head to slowly lift up and then the pupils focused on the doctor before then slowly closing again. The doctor claimed that when he repeated the dead man's name, the same actions took place. It was only at the third attempt that the head gave no response. The exact of amount of pain of course relies on the proficiency of the executioner. When Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded in 1587, the axeman took three attempts to sever the head and even then had to finish the job with a knife.
A medical study in 1983 concluded that no matter how efficient the method of execution, a few seconds of pain is inevitable when losing one's head. The guillotine, considered one of the more "humane" methods, relies on severing the brain and spinal cord after cutting the surrounding tissues. Even so, at least two to three seconds of intense pain cannot be avoided. There are many accounts of the heads of executed people continuing to show movement or expression long after the final blow. One particularly gruesome experiment in 1905 involved a French physician who called out the name of the condemned man in the seconds after decapitation. The response was for the eyelids over the severed head to slowly lift up and then the pupils focused on the doctor before then slowly closing again. The doctor claimed that when he repeated the dead man's name, the same actions took place. It was only at the third attempt that the head gave no response. The exact of amount of pain of course relies on the proficiency of the executioner. When Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded in 1587, the axeman took three attempts to sever the head and even then had to finish the job with a knife.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
The first man.
A couple of nerdy questions keep popping up in my head lately.
Who was the first guy (or girl) to eat an oyster? He/she must have been really really hungry...
and when was the kiss invented? Was there a logical progression from a kiss on the cheek to a tongue-twisting French slopper, or was it the other way round?
(Maybe my pal BigBuddha can shed some light on this, given his infinite knowledge on large primates and his degree in history.)
Who was the first guy (or girl) to eat an oyster? He/she must have been really really hungry...
and when was the kiss invented? Was there a logical progression from a kiss on the cheek to a tongue-twisting French slopper, or was it the other way round?
(Maybe my pal BigBuddha can shed some light on this, given his infinite knowledge on large primates and his degree in history.)
Friday, September 30, 2005
Flipper the firing dolphin
This is the post-Katrina story with the highest ThatsQuiteInteresting rating of them all.
Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Their coastal compound in Louisiana was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea.
Divers and surfers risk attack from bottlenose dolphins carrying 'toxic dart' guns.
Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.
I smell a Hollywood screenplay.
Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Their coastal compound in Louisiana was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea.
Divers and surfers risk attack from bottlenose dolphins carrying 'toxic dart' guns.
Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.
I smell a Hollywood screenplay.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
What's your UCR?
I picked up an amusing concept on ESPN2.com , the UCR or Unintentional Comedy Rating.
This is a rating you give to people who are funny, without realizing it. For instance, in the eighties, the late Arafat, had a high UCR when he adressed the Tv cameras in his broken English. So did the late pope Karol Woijtila, when he said 'Dankoe foor de blumen' during his annual Urbi et Orbi speech.
In sports, the basketball players Dikembe Mutombo and DJ Mbenga, who were both born in Congo, have some of the highest UCR scores.
Here's a list of other people who score high on the UCR scale.
BUTINA: goalkeeper from FC Bruges. His interviews and interventions during corners are hilarious.
EDDY WALLY: I am still not sure if he realises he's so funny or not. Either way, his best years are behind him.
GERT VERHEYEN: anybody who has seen this guy play, knows what I am talking about.
ETIENNE VERMEERSCH: the ethics professor from Ghent. His greasy hairstyle does it.
JAN HOET: the Czar of Art.
WACKO JACKO: when he keeps his hands of little children he has a high UCR.
ARNO HINTJENS: c-c-c-c-cool
GW BUSH: only when you don't think about how much harm he can do. A lot of comedians are jealous of his wide array of idiotic facial expressions.
MARGARET THATCHER: the same condition as above applies. Her voice is classic.
STEVE BALMER: Microsoft geek. Anyone who hasn't seen these videostreams yet, should do so right away. It's also a bit scary actually.
http://www.tarmo.fi/arc/monkeydance.mpeg
http://www.ntk.net/media/developers.mpg
This is a rating you give to people who are funny, without realizing it. For instance, in the eighties, the late Arafat, had a high UCR when he adressed the Tv cameras in his broken English. So did the late pope Karol Woijtila, when he said 'Dankoe foor de blumen' during his annual Urbi et Orbi speech.
In sports, the basketball players Dikembe Mutombo and DJ Mbenga, who were both born in Congo, have some of the highest UCR scores.
Here's a list of other people who score high on the UCR scale.
BUTINA: goalkeeper from FC Bruges. His interviews and interventions during corners are hilarious.
EDDY WALLY: I am still not sure if he realises he's so funny or not. Either way, his best years are behind him.
GERT VERHEYEN: anybody who has seen this guy play, knows what I am talking about.
ETIENNE VERMEERSCH: the ethics professor from Ghent. His greasy hairstyle does it.
JAN HOET: the Czar of Art.
WACKO JACKO: when he keeps his hands of little children he has a high UCR.
ARNO HINTJENS: c-c-c-c-cool
GW BUSH: only when you don't think about how much harm he can do. A lot of comedians are jealous of his wide array of idiotic facial expressions.
MARGARET THATCHER: the same condition as above applies. Her voice is classic.
STEVE BALMER: Microsoft geek. Anyone who hasn't seen these videostreams yet, should do so right away. It's also a bit scary actually.
http://www.tarmo.fi/arc/monkeydance.mpeg
http://www.ntk.net/media/developers.mpg
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Newton was wrong?
Inspired by their recent succes with the 'intelligent design' theory , it seems the US creationists are taking it a little too far with their latest theories.
A museum in Arkansas tells it visitors that, contrary to common belief, dinosaurs actually walked the world with humans, and that Noah took , albeit small, dinosaur species with him on the Ark.
http://www.moeh.org/
And in Kansas, scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39512
If they keep this up, pretty soon the US will be an Intelligent Country.
A museum in Arkansas tells it visitors that, contrary to common belief, dinosaurs actually walked the world with humans, and that Noah took , albeit small, dinosaur species with him on the Ark.
http://www.moeh.org/
And in Kansas, scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39512
If they keep this up, pretty soon the US will be an Intelligent Country.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Summer's almost gone...
As the summer of 2005 draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the past months by why of a personal (s)hit list.
Biggest thrill/scare: when my darling wife told me she was pregnant with twins.
Biggest disappointment: the weather
Biggest festival: the Pope festival in Köln
Biggest Anthem: Washin Up by Thomas Anderson (tiga remix)
Biggest hype: evacuation of jewish colonists in Gaza.
Biggest shock: London tube bombings
Biggest violation of human rights: shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in London in the aftermah of the bombings
Biggest accident waiting to happen : Iraq
Biggest Woman : Cindy Sheehan
Smallest President: GW
Biggest thrill/scare: when my darling wife told me she was pregnant with twins.
Biggest disappointment: the weather
Biggest festival: the Pope festival in Köln
Biggest Anthem: Washin Up by Thomas Anderson (tiga remix)
Biggest hype: evacuation of jewish colonists in Gaza.
Biggest shock: London tube bombings
Biggest violation of human rights: shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in London in the aftermah of the bombings
Biggest accident waiting to happen : Iraq
Biggest Woman : Cindy Sheehan
Smallest President: GW
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Ancient beliefs.
I apologise for the summer lull in my blog. :]
Here are some quintessential QI facts (courtesy www.qi.com).
Three tribes in the world- the Ainu of Northern Japan and two tribes in the Pacific North-West of America- believe that the world is supported on the back of a giant trout.
Columbus believed the world was pear-shaped.
Descartes asserted that monkeys and apes probably were able to talk but kept quiet in case they were asked to do any work.
Alexander Graham Bell believed moonlight was dangerous.
Bertrand Russell believed that if a man was away from his wife for more than three weeks it was acceptable for him to have sex with other women.
Here are some quintessential QI facts (courtesy www.qi.com).
Three tribes in the world- the Ainu of Northern Japan and two tribes in the Pacific North-West of America- believe that the world is supported on the back of a giant trout.
Columbus believed the world was pear-shaped.
Descartes asserted that monkeys and apes probably were able to talk but kept quiet in case they were asked to do any work.
Alexander Graham Bell believed moonlight was dangerous.
Bertrand Russell believed that if a man was away from his wife for more than three weeks it was acceptable for him to have sex with other women.
Friday, July 15, 2005
One dollar, one vote.
#1 Schwarzenegger, the governator of Calli, signed a contract to "further the business objectives" of two body buildingmagazines on 15 November 2003 - just two days before he was sworn in as governor of the Golden State. He's being paid more than $8million over five years. Most of the advertisements in the magazines come from the 'performance-enhancing substance' industry. We all know that those bodybuilders don't stick to Aquarius to help them train.
Last year, the governor vetoed a bill by a state senator that would have required sports coaches to take a course in performance-enhancing supplements, created a list of banned substances for school sports and barred supplement manufacturers from sponsoring school events.
Mr Schwarzenegger's office has argued that there is no conflict of interest.
#2 The global steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal (owner of the world's biggest steel producer), one of Britain's richest men, announced yesterday that he had given £2m to Labour funds - making him the party's biggest donor alongside Lord Sainsbury, the supermarket tycoon turned science minister.
Now that's how modern democracy is supposed to work.
Last year, the governor vetoed a bill by a state senator that would have required sports coaches to take a course in performance-enhancing supplements, created a list of banned substances for school sports and barred supplement manufacturers from sponsoring school events.
Mr Schwarzenegger's office has argued that there is no conflict of interest.
#2 The global steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal (owner of the world's biggest steel producer), one of Britain's richest men, announced yesterday that he had given £2m to Labour funds - making him the party's biggest donor alongside Lord Sainsbury, the supermarket tycoon turned science minister.
Now that's how modern democracy is supposed to work.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Degussa Degassa
Fact #1: During WWII, Degussa, the German chemical company, provided Zyklon B to the nazi death camps.
Fact #2: in 2005, Degussa provided the anti-graffiti coating for the Holocaust Memorial sculpture in Berlin.
Conclusion: This example of business strategy will probably feature in the courses of the prestigious U.S. business schools. Chapter 1. How do I get paid twice for assisting a genocide?
Fact #2: in 2005, Degussa provided the anti-graffiti coating for the Holocaust Memorial sculpture in Berlin.
Conclusion: This example of business strategy will probably feature in the courses of the prestigious U.S. business schools. Chapter 1. How do I get paid twice for assisting a genocide?
Friday, June 24, 2005
Choosing between two (d)evils.
The Iranians have a tough choice to make in the upcoming second round of the presidential election.
Either they pick the 70yr old billionaire Rafsanjani who ruled between 1989-1997 and robbed the country blind in the process
or they pick the mayor of Teheran, 51yr old Ahmadinejad, who wants to segregate the sidewalks for men and women and who also wants to outlaw double beds (!?).
Like John Travolta said in Face-Off: 'What a predicament!'
Either they pick the 70yr old billionaire Rafsanjani who ruled between 1989-1997 and robbed the country blind in the process
or they pick the mayor of Teheran, 51yr old Ahmadinejad, who wants to segregate the sidewalks for men and women and who also wants to outlaw double beds (!?).
Like John Travolta said in Face-Off: 'What a predicament!'
Saturday, June 11, 2005
WK Voetbal tot 20j
I was reminded of the stupidity of the human race when I was watching the world championship football for players aged 20 or under on Dutch television. Before the match Australia-Benin kicked off, there was a minute of silence for the deceased keeper of the Benin team. During the qualifying stages he was stoned to death after he had a bad game. I bet Tristan Peersman is happy he wasn't born in Benin.
The Dutch team has an awesome player in its ranks: Quincy and then something (he should shorten his name to Quincy, like the Brazilians)
The kid playes like Ronaldo Squared (the one from PSV/Madrid and the one from Man U)and makes Arjen Robben look like a snail (and Baseggio like he's running backwards)
Tonight/ Argentina vs the U S of Aaaaaa, featuring 16yr old Freddy Adu, the next Pele.
The Dutch team has an awesome player in its ranks: Quincy and then something (he should shorten his name to Quincy, like the Brazilians)
The kid playes like Ronaldo Squared (the one from PSV/Madrid and the one from Man U)and makes Arjen Robben look like a snail (and Baseggio like he's running backwards)
Tonight/ Argentina vs the U S of Aaaaaa, featuring 16yr old Freddy Adu, the next Pele.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
EU in tatters?
What's all the negativism around the NO verdicts delivered by the French & the Dutch in the EU constitution referenda? Some commentators are acting like we're doomed. Wake up and smell the coffee! This is how democracy is supposed to work , not by ramming political decisions down people's throats. There is only so much change people can take in a certain amount of time. Let's see...
1999: a new currency; that's quite a huge change , affecting everybody's lives
2004: EU-15 becomes EU-25, former communist countries (some piss poor) join the club
2005: Turkey is about to join and a constitution of 480 pages is drafted
no wonder people voted for a time-out.
Did you know that the constitution contains passages minutely describing the wages and severance packages of the EU bureaucrats? Does that belong in a constitution?
The referenda will restore part of the public's lost confidence in politics and may benefit the political project called EU in the long run.
As the French would say: Reculer pour mieux sauter.
1999: a new currency; that's quite a huge change , affecting everybody's lives
2004: EU-15 becomes EU-25, former communist countries (some piss poor) join the club
2005: Turkey is about to join and a constitution of 480 pages is drafted
no wonder people voted for a time-out.
Did you know that the constitution contains passages minutely describing the wages and severance packages of the EU bureaucrats? Does that belong in a constitution?
The referenda will restore part of the public's lost confidence in politics and may benefit the political project called EU in the long run.
As the French would say: Reculer pour mieux sauter.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Monsanto is not worried about mon-santé.
Researchers at Monsanto tested rats and covered that their GM MON 863, a modified corn already grown and eaten in the US and Canada, causes the rodents to develop kidney disease and low blood count . The results weren't supposed to come out and when they did, Monsanto dismissed the results as meaningless and due to chance, reflecting normal variations between rats.
I still would like some more testing done please, preferably by a third party, before the EU grants permission to sell Monsanto's products to my kids.
Six years ago Dr Arpad Pusztai , a British scientist and a GM fan, already found disturbing evidence that the GM potatoes he was studying damaged the immune systems, brains, livers and kidneys of rats. He mentioned it briefly in a TV interview and at the same time threw his career out the window. Read what happened to him in this article: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=640402
I still would like some more testing done please, preferably by a third party, before the EU grants permission to sell Monsanto's products to my kids.
Six years ago Dr Arpad Pusztai , a British scientist and a GM fan, already found disturbing evidence that the GM potatoes he was studying damaged the immune systems, brains, livers and kidneys of rats. He mentioned it briefly in a TV interview and at the same time threw his career out the window. Read what happened to him in this article: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=640402
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Mystery Piano Man
You have probably read or heard about the Mystery Piano Man, that guy who showed up April 7 in Kent, England, wearing a drenched suit. All the lables from his clothes had been removed. He hasn't uttered a word since but give him a piano and he plays concertos for four hours straight or he draws detailed pictures of wing pianos.
I'm calling David Lynch tonight to pitch him this idea I have for a new movie:)
I'm calling David Lynch tonight to pitch him this idea I have for a new movie:)
Monday, May 09, 2005
Naked in the rain.
Wassup with this Spencer Tunick hype and the nude people he photographed in Bruges over the weekend? Every newsshow and paper had an item on it and especially women around 40 seem to find his 'art' very provocative, hip & interesting. I don't get it.
Tunick is a one-trick pony. Is it art simply because they're naked? If everybody wore fleshcoloured or white spandex jumpsuits would it still be considered as high art and more importantly: would the media cover it??
Come on Spence, time to move on to something new...
If you want to see some real art check the post right below www. banksy.co.uk
Tunick is a one-trick pony. Is it art simply because they're naked? If everybody wore fleshcoloured or white spandex jumpsuits would it still be considered as high art and more importantly: would the media cover it??
Come on Spence, time to move on to something new...
If you want to see some real art check the post right below www. banksy.co.uk
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Guerilla Art
Check this guy out: http://www.banksy.co.uk
Next level graffiti. He clandestinely hangs some of his stuff in art galleries between 'real' art.
Next level graffiti. He clandestinely hangs some of his stuff in art galleries between 'real' art.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Why not privatise public transport? Here's why not
British commuters pay up to five times more than rail passengers on the Continent, a study has found.
While an annual season ticket from Hemel Hempstead to London costs £2,504 for a 23-mile journey, the equivalent would cost just £510 in Berlin.
The news emerges after the Government announced price increases above the inflation rate. On some London commuter routes up to one out of every four trains runs late. It is also thought that further increases are in the pipeline.
Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, argued that the private companies involved in the rail network were siphoning off profit and ensuring that rail fares in Britain were higher than in most Continental countries. "The Rail privateers are taking out a billion pounds a year from the railways and £2m a week from the Tube - is it any wonder that commuters are paying through the nose for season tickets?" he said. "Commuters in countries where the railways remain in public hands pay a fraction of season ticket costs here. The time has come to draw the line under privatisation and bring our rail and Tube back into the public sector."
While an annual season ticket from Hemel Hempstead to London costs £2,504 for a 23-mile journey, the equivalent would cost just £510 in Berlin.
The news emerges after the Government announced price increases above the inflation rate. On some London commuter routes up to one out of every four trains runs late. It is also thought that further increases are in the pipeline.
Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, argued that the private companies involved in the rail network were siphoning off profit and ensuring that rail fares in Britain were higher than in most Continental countries. "The Rail privateers are taking out a billion pounds a year from the railways and £2m a week from the Tube - is it any wonder that commuters are paying through the nose for season tickets?" he said. "Commuters in countries where the railways remain in public hands pay a fraction of season ticket costs here. The time has come to draw the line under privatisation and bring our rail and Tube back into the public sector."
Monday, April 25, 2005
It's been a long time...
...since I left you with a dope post to step to.
Sorry but I've been too busy lately and lacking inspiration...
The DJ in Dan Steely (DJ Gaucho) dusted off the cobwebs of his SL1200s last week to perform on a partyboat in Ghent. Thx again to my DJ buddies (Curteez, Buddha and Bricken) for providing me with their hottest discs , which I needed badly since I spinned non-stop from 20.30h till 02.30h. I'm still feeling the aftermath (I forgot how physically demanding those DJ groupies can be :)
Now 4 something completely different:
The New Pope Papa Ratzi; doesn't he look kinda demonic, especially when he smiles, and his eyes are jeepy-creepy.If you ask me something went wrong when he conducted his last exorcism: the devil jumped bodies.
I think the Vatican picked a 78-year old cos they were pleasantly surprised by all the media attention (the OldPope/NewPope soap received a wider coverage than the Tsunami ; for real!)
They want to do the same thing every five years now (dominating the airwaves and selling loads of memorabilia) to keep their brandname alive.
Sorry but I've been too busy lately and lacking inspiration...
The DJ in Dan Steely (DJ Gaucho) dusted off the cobwebs of his SL1200s last week to perform on a partyboat in Ghent. Thx again to my DJ buddies (Curteez, Buddha and Bricken) for providing me with their hottest discs , which I needed badly since I spinned non-stop from 20.30h till 02.30h. I'm still feeling the aftermath (I forgot how physically demanding those DJ groupies can be :)
Now 4 something completely different:
The New Pope Papa Ratzi; doesn't he look kinda demonic, especially when he smiles, and his eyes are jeepy-creepy.If you ask me something went wrong when he conducted his last exorcism: the devil jumped bodies.
I think the Vatican picked a 78-year old cos they were pleasantly surprised by all the media attention (the OldPope/NewPope soap received a wider coverage than the Tsunami ; for real!)
They want to do the same thing every five years now (dominating the airwaves and selling loads of memorabilia) to keep their brandname alive.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Quite Interesting News
BREAKING NEWS! Next series of QI returns this May! THE HIT, BAFTA NOMINATED COMEDY SERIES HOSTED BY STEPHEN FRY! The man himself will once again join some of the biggest names in comedy in this hit BBC2 show! Top comedy guests guaranteed!
QI Fact of the Day
Alexander Graham Bell believed moonlight was dangerous.
QI Fact of the Day
Alexander Graham Bell believed moonlight was dangerous.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
The Z-religion.
Christians believe that God created the world in six days. Zoroastrians* believe it took Him 3,000 years.
*: Zoroastrians are the followers of the first revealed religion of mankind taught by a great thinker (Manthran) known to Greeks as Zoroaster and to the Persians as Zarathushtra. His teachings span back to the early dawn of civilization some 3500-3700 years ago. His was an enlightenment of a life of Good Conscience (Daena Vanghui) that in time was encoded into a Divine doctrine.
If you tried Christianity, took a stab at Judeaism, dabbled with Islam? why don't you give the Z-religion a go? Their God is called Ahura Mazda. Cool stuff.
Zarathushtra was the bomb far back in the days, and quite a leftwinger too. In essence the basic ethical tenets of Zarathushtra were/are:
# To think Good, (Humata)
# To speak Good (Hukhta)
# To act Good (Huvreshta)
Easier to remember than the 10 Commandments.
*: Zoroastrians are the followers of the first revealed religion of mankind taught by a great thinker (Manthran) known to Greeks as Zoroaster and to the Persians as Zarathushtra. His teachings span back to the early dawn of civilization some 3500-3700 years ago. His was an enlightenment of a life of Good Conscience (Daena Vanghui) that in time was encoded into a Divine doctrine.
If you tried Christianity, took a stab at Judeaism, dabbled with Islam? why don't you give the Z-religion a go? Their God is called Ahura Mazda. Cool stuff.
Zarathushtra was the bomb far back in the days, and quite a leftwinger too. In essence the basic ethical tenets of Zarathushtra were/are:
# To think Good, (Humata)
# To speak Good (Hukhta)
# To act Good (Huvreshta)
Easier to remember than the 10 Commandments.
Monday, March 14, 2005
California behind bars.
California's jails house a total of 163,000 prisoners, which is more than France, Germany and the Netherlands combined. More than 30,000 are serving life.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Big Man in Dallas.
In Belgium, there is a lot of buzz surrounding DJ Mbenga , the first 'Belgian' player to play in the NBA. He's not a factor yet with his team, the Dallas Mavericks, but give him some time.
My personal favorite 7-footer is the superstar of the Mavs, German Dirk Nowitzki. Read the entertaining linked article about him.
www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/mavericks/2005-03-10-nowitzki-unstoppable_x.htm
This is my favourite excerpt : 'On Being ambidextrous: "I can knock down six of 10 16-footers left-handed, but I don't have the confidence yet to shoot those in a game."
Creepy stuff. 16-foot is only one step inside the European three-point arc.
My personal favorite 7-footer is the superstar of the Mavs, German Dirk Nowitzki. Read the entertaining linked article about him.
www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/mavericks/2005-03-10-nowitzki-unstoppable_x.htm
This is my favourite excerpt : 'On Being ambidextrous: "I can knock down six of 10 16-footers left-handed, but I don't have the confidence yet to shoot those in a game."
Creepy stuff. 16-foot is only one step inside the European three-point arc.
Picanol: the dirty numbers.
Remember Patrick Coene, the ex-CEO of Picanol NV, who was paid roughly €25mln in three years on the job, which is about a quarter of Picanol's listed stock value?
Well, PriceWaterhouseCoopers finished their audit of the company and it seems that old Coene just took his cue from the owners of Picanol, the family Steverlynck, which he already knew from his college days at the Vlerick School.
Here is what De Tijd, the Belgian business newspaper reported on the audit which ran from 2001 to mid-2004 (11/03).
Annual wages (all gross amounts)
Patrick Steverlynck:620.000€
Michel Steverlynck: 322.000€
Yves Steverlynck: 174.000€
On top of this fixed payment they receive 3099€ per meeting of the Board of Directors plus a bonus dependent on Picanol's results.
Now comes the really disgusting part, the personal expenses of the family paid for by
Picanol: a whopping total of 1,227 million € (yes that's 1.2bln€) including 220.000€ for hunting trips (that's a lot of duckshooting!). Patrick also receives €300.000 per year for the 'accueil' of customers in his mansion. (Note: he pays Picanol a ridiculously low rent of €327 per month for the stately mansion)
€150.000/year for the house of the elderly Emmanuel Steverlynck (who lives in another house in Switzerland by the way).
Last week the new CEO Van Nevel announced that workers would receive a one time gross amount of €250 + two extra holidays to compensate for all the hassle surrounding the company and the PwC audit. Wow, thanks very much. That didn't make me puke yet, but the reaction of the labour unions at Picanol caused me to regurgitate my lunch stante pede.
The spokesmen of the so-called socialist ABVV and the christiandemocratic ACV both hoped that the newsstories surrounding the Steverlyncks would not cause their departure because they are necessary for keeping jobs. Unbelievable!!!!!
Who will foot the bill for this fraud? (which in all likelihood will not be punished as harshly as the social fraud hated so badly by Rik Daems )
1. the employees (who are worried about their job and who haven't seen any decent pay hikes in ages).
2. the shareholders (although I only feel sympathy for the smalltime investor)
3. last but not least the taxpaying citizens.(Picanol can deduct the €1.2bln from their profits and they don't have to pay VAT (=BTW) on those amounts).
Ofcourse the mainstream media wants you to believe that Picanol is an anomaly (just like Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat etc). All the other family-owned companies are squeeky clean!!
Well, PriceWaterhouseCoopers finished their audit of the company and it seems that old Coene just took his cue from the owners of Picanol, the family Steverlynck, which he already knew from his college days at the Vlerick School.
Here is what De Tijd, the Belgian business newspaper reported on the audit which ran from 2001 to mid-2004 (11/03).
Annual wages (all gross amounts)
Patrick Steverlynck:620.000€
Michel Steverlynck: 322.000€
Yves Steverlynck: 174.000€
On top of this fixed payment they receive 3099€ per meeting of the Board of Directors plus a bonus dependent on Picanol's results.
Now comes the really disgusting part, the personal expenses of the family paid for by
Picanol: a whopping total of 1,227 million € (yes that's 1.2bln€) including 220.000€ for hunting trips (that's a lot of duckshooting!). Patrick also receives €300.000 per year for the 'accueil' of customers in his mansion. (Note: he pays Picanol a ridiculously low rent of €327 per month for the stately mansion)
€150.000/year for the house of the elderly Emmanuel Steverlynck (who lives in another house in Switzerland by the way).
Last week the new CEO Van Nevel announced that workers would receive a one time gross amount of €250 + two extra holidays to compensate for all the hassle surrounding the company and the PwC audit. Wow, thanks very much. That didn't make me puke yet, but the reaction of the labour unions at Picanol caused me to regurgitate my lunch stante pede.
The spokesmen of the so-called socialist ABVV and the christiandemocratic ACV both hoped that the newsstories surrounding the Steverlyncks would not cause their departure because they are necessary for keeping jobs. Unbelievable!!!!!
Who will foot the bill for this fraud? (which in all likelihood will not be punished as harshly as the social fraud hated so badly by Rik Daems )
1. the employees (who are worried about their job and who haven't seen any decent pay hikes in ages).
2. the shareholders (although I only feel sympathy for the smalltime investor)
3. last but not least the taxpaying citizens.(Picanol can deduct the €1.2bln from their profits and they don't have to pay VAT (=BTW) on those amounts).
Ofcourse the mainstream media wants you to believe that Picanol is an anomaly (just like Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat etc). All the other family-owned companies are squeeky clean!!
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
White House cries Wolf
At our workplace we can read the Financial Times. Some of the stuff in there is quite funny, like this excerpt from today's issue.
"The news that Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary and neo-conservative hawk, is a leading contender to head the World Bank has sent a frisson of fear down the spines of development experts across the globe.
So great is the predicted backlash that one might almost suspect he is only there to secure Europe's acquiescence to a rival candidate.
It also points to a worrying trend. Wolfowitz would not be the first Pentagon alumnus to go from bombing bridges to building them. In 1968 Robert McNamara, Lyndon B. Johnson's defence secretary, went straight from spearheading the Vietnam conflict to a lengthy stint as bank president.
And Wolfowitz's regime change policy could work wonders: instead of vainly trying to alter the approach of corrupt rulers, why not simply topple them?
There is the thorny issue of whether the World Bank's charter precludes such direct political action as, say, invasion. No doubt Alberto Gonzales, the US attorney-general, will find a way round it: perhaps by dubbing the interventions "coercive aid projects" rather than combat operations.
"The news that Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary and neo-conservative hawk, is a leading contender to head the World Bank has sent a frisson of fear down the spines of development experts across the globe.
So great is the predicted backlash that one might almost suspect he is only there to secure Europe's acquiescence to a rival candidate.
It also points to a worrying trend. Wolfowitz would not be the first Pentagon alumnus to go from bombing bridges to building them. In 1968 Robert McNamara, Lyndon B. Johnson's defence secretary, went straight from spearheading the Vietnam conflict to a lengthy stint as bank president.
And Wolfowitz's regime change policy could work wonders: instead of vainly trying to alter the approach of corrupt rulers, why not simply topple them?
There is the thorny issue of whether the World Bank's charter precludes such direct political action as, say, invasion. No doubt Alberto Gonzales, the US attorney-general, will find a way round it: perhaps by dubbing the interventions "coercive aid projects" rather than combat operations.
Posting comments.
As of now ANYONE can post comments on my blog. You don't have to register anymore. That's especially for you, Steven R. and Peter M.!!!
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
The Human Polar Bear
I take the train to work every weekday and there is one guy I see on the platform who is freaking me out big time.
He's the first human being I know who wears exactly the same clothes in the summer as he does in the winter. For several days now it's been freezing: at 7.00am this morning I reckon that the 'feel' temperature must have been something like -10°C (officially it was -4°C today but this doesn't factor in the chilly wind). Everybody is wearing a heavy coat or anorak, mittens and hats and still shivering like hell, but the guy - I call him the Polar Bear - is wearing a shirt with the top unbuttoned and a flimsy blazer and that's it! What really scares me is that he never flinches even when a gust of Arctic wind rips across the train platform in Deinze.
P.S.: He drives a huge Mercedes to the train station (which also seems kind of strange)so he can't be too poor to buy winterclothes. I hope I can gather the courage to talk to him one of these days and ask him what his secret is.
He's the first human being I know who wears exactly the same clothes in the summer as he does in the winter. For several days now it's been freezing: at 7.00am this morning I reckon that the 'feel' temperature must have been something like -10°C (officially it was -4°C today but this doesn't factor in the chilly wind). Everybody is wearing a heavy coat or anorak, mittens and hats and still shivering like hell, but the guy - I call him the Polar Bear - is wearing a shirt with the top unbuttoned and a flimsy blazer and that's it! What really scares me is that he never flinches even when a gust of Arctic wind rips across the train platform in Deinze.
P.S.: He drives a huge Mercedes to the train station (which also seems kind of strange)so he can't be too poor to buy winterclothes. I hope I can gather the courage to talk to him one of these days and ask him what his secret is.
Labour's share of the cake is getting smaller.
Corporations in the U.S. and elsewhere have rarely had it this good.
In 2004, after-tax corporate profits in the U.S rose to 14% as a proportion of GDP, the highest for 75 years and in Europe and Japan, corporate profits are the highest in 25 years. That's why you see so many big corporations paying out huge dividends to their shareholders and even buying in their own shares on the stock market. Big banks with pockets full of money like HSBC and Citigroup are looking to use their cash reserves to buy up competitors, probably sparking another wave of 'wealth-creating' mergers (numerous studies have shown that over 70% of big mergers turn out to be economically unprofitable)
What's the problem, you say, this must be good for the economy as a whole, since the employees surely also benefit.
Well, actually they don't. Officially, U.S. corporate profits have risen 60% over the past 3 years, opposed to 10% for wage income. But this does not take into account the fact that extralegal benefits such as healthcare and pension plans have been slashed over the last few years. In certain areas, wages have actually fallen (NYTimes 28/02/05: 'Last year, the real wages of hourly workers, who make up about 80 percent of the work force, actually dropped for the first time in more than a decade')
The economic theory goes that eventually these higher corporate profits will be syphoned away to the pockets of workers through lower prices as firms compete with each other to grab market share. The problem is that in most sectors, there is a concentration in the making that will lead to less competition, not more.
When you confront a neoliberal economist with a real, actual problem or negative side-effect of the capitalist economy, he always produces the economic theories of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman or Hayek: don't regulate and the problem will work itself out. But they never say how long it is going to take and also conveniently forget to mention that the many assumptions of the classic economic theories (perfect information, perfect competition...) are never fullfilled in the real world.
I have a question for the rightwingers in the U.S.; why is the evolution theory by Darwin only a theory and why are the theories of Smith, Friedman, Hayek considered to be laws of nature???
In 2004, after-tax corporate profits in the U.S rose to 14% as a proportion of GDP, the highest for 75 years and in Europe and Japan, corporate profits are the highest in 25 years. That's why you see so many big corporations paying out huge dividends to their shareholders and even buying in their own shares on the stock market. Big banks with pockets full of money like HSBC and Citigroup are looking to use their cash reserves to buy up competitors, probably sparking another wave of 'wealth-creating' mergers (numerous studies have shown that over 70% of big mergers turn out to be economically unprofitable)
What's the problem, you say, this must be good for the economy as a whole, since the employees surely also benefit.
Well, actually they don't. Officially, U.S. corporate profits have risen 60% over the past 3 years, opposed to 10% for wage income. But this does not take into account the fact that extralegal benefits such as healthcare and pension plans have been slashed over the last few years. In certain areas, wages have actually fallen (NYTimes 28/02/05: 'Last year, the real wages of hourly workers, who make up about 80 percent of the work force, actually dropped for the first time in more than a decade')
The economic theory goes that eventually these higher corporate profits will be syphoned away to the pockets of workers through lower prices as firms compete with each other to grab market share. The problem is that in most sectors, there is a concentration in the making that will lead to less competition, not more.
When you confront a neoliberal economist with a real, actual problem or negative side-effect of the capitalist economy, he always produces the economic theories of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman or Hayek: don't regulate and the problem will work itself out. But they never say how long it is going to take and also conveniently forget to mention that the many assumptions of the classic economic theories (perfect information, perfect competition...) are never fullfilled in the real world.
I have a question for the rightwingers in the U.S.; why is the evolution theory by Darwin only a theory and why are the theories of Smith, Friedman, Hayek considered to be laws of nature???
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
We're running out of toiletpaper.
It seems like everyday we receive warnings in the media of how the economic rise of the superpower China will deplete the world's resources. Most fear oil shortages but how about this newswire as food for thought?
February 15 - UPI: "An official from the Shanghai Paper Trade Association said China's consumption of wood pulp for toilet tissue was worrisome, China Daily reported... Wood pulp used to produce various kinds of paper has become China's third largest import after petroleum and steel... The country consumed 8.2 million tons of wood pulp in 2004, of which slightly more than 6 million tons were imported. 'While I am happy to see many young people adopt paper tissue for its convenience, a sign reflecting our social development and helping improve our industry to some extent, I am beginning to worry about our large wood consumption,' Wang said."
So that's why Japan has those hightech WCs with sprays and fountains. They were planning for the toiletpapershortage all those years!
February 15 - UPI: "An official from the Shanghai Paper Trade Association said China's consumption of wood pulp for toilet tissue was worrisome, China Daily reported... Wood pulp used to produce various kinds of paper has become China's third largest import after petroleum and steel... The country consumed 8.2 million tons of wood pulp in 2004, of which slightly more than 6 million tons were imported. 'While I am happy to see many young people adopt paper tissue for its convenience, a sign reflecting our social development and helping improve our industry to some extent, I am beginning to worry about our large wood consumption,' Wang said."
So that's why Japan has those hightech WCs with sprays and fountains. They were planning for the toiletpapershortage all those years!
Don't believe the hype!
Barroso and many fellow politicians (Bolkestein, Blair, McCreevy, Verheugen, Kroes, Van Rompuy, Daems, Berlusconi , Balkenende, the list goes on & on) want the European labor market to take their cue from the U.S. because it's much more dynamic and flexible. After all, the official unemployment rate in the euro area is 8.8% , compared to only 5.5% in the U.S .However, the official figures are painting a rosier picture than the actual job market situation:
- the number of Americans without a job for more than 6 months has more than doubled over the past 3 yrs to 1.6mln
- the share of unemployed without work for more than 6 months has stayed above 20% for the past 18 months.
- The U.S. manufacturing sector has lost 2.8mln jobs over the last year
- Since spring 2003 the average duration of unemployment is 19 weeks, the longest since 1948!!
- 5.5% is the official unemployment rate but over 12% of Americans live below the poverty line; many people need to take up 2 or even 3 jobs to keep their heads above water, they are called the 'working poor'.
Economic liberals rightly claim that it is not fair if people are on welfare and they don't have to work because they live off the fruits of labor of all the others. But what about all those people who do work in the U.S. and who are still poor? Isn't that even less fair??
The article below by George Monbiot illustrates that the wellfare state canbe effective, as the example of Sweden shows.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/01/11/punitive-and-it-works/
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Nuclear energy
Politicians in Europe have put nuclear reactors back on the agenda now that Kyoto has gone into effect. Granted, a nuclear reactor does not emit CO2 but it happens to produce an even more lethal byproduct for mother Earth. Until he/she can answer the following questions, no politician is allowed to discuss the relaunch of the nuclear industry in my vicinity!
- What are you going to do with the millions of tons of nuclear waste, with its cute radioactivity that lasts for a kazillion years? Oh, and shooting it into space is not an option.
- What if uranium runs out in say 50 years?
- Do you really want to have nuclear reactors spread out all over the European mainland, offering an inviting canvas to airplane flying terrorists?
I wonder what the solar energy industry would look like today with the kind of funding the nuclear industry received over the past 50 years.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Sorry Dutch speakers
as of today I am switching from Dutch to English. I have a feeling there won't be many complaints, since only 1 person sofar has commented on my posts. Maybe it says more about the knowledge of my mother tongue than my English, but I feel more at ease using the language of Shakespeare as opposed to the language of Hendrik Conscience.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Rice on the Rise
Nu dat Condoleezza Rice gepromoveerd is tot Minister v. Buitenlandse Zaken komt ze nog meer voor de camera's. Misschien ligt het aan mij, maar 'that woman scares me!'. Ze ziet eruit als een kruising tussen Rob de Nijs en Whoopi Goldberg. Ik verdenk haar ervan synthetische verjongingsdrankjes te nemen want ze lijkt 15 jaar jonger dan haar ware leeftijd (geb. 1954). Naar verluidt heeft ze een huizenhoog IQ waarmee ze baas geworden is van Stanford University vóór ze voor GWB ging werken.
Ze hebben natuurlijk wel wat slimme mensen nodig in het Witte Huis om het gemiddelde peil omhoog te trekken wanneer George thuis is. Zouden ze veel lachen met hem als hij er niet bij is?
Eigenlijk zouden ze ipv oorlog te voeren tussen naties op de ouderwetse manier, de zaken kunnen oplossen met kwisavonden, waarbij verschillende teams tegenover elkaar gaan zitten in het decor van de Pappenheimers. Maar dan wel met de huidige regeringen en niet met de beste kwissers van het land.
Die kerel van NoordKorea zou goed scoren in vragen over Hollywood, en Putin in vragen over de Berlijnse underground new wavescéne. Berlusconi weet alles over Frank Sinatra en Las vegas van zijn dagen als crooner op een cruise schip.
De Belgische regering zou haar mannetje staan me dunkt. Verhofstadt mag je alles vragen over sport en wijn. Vandelanotte en Landuyt zijn degelijke allround kwissers maar articuleren is de boodschap. Zeker in de finale. Aan Waalse zijde , zal het vooral moeten komen van Rudy Demotte. We kunnen winnen van Holland met onze vingers in de neus.
En wie gaat er de finale winnen denk je?
Mijn geld staat op Zweden.
Ze hebben natuurlijk wel wat slimme mensen nodig in het Witte Huis om het gemiddelde peil omhoog te trekken wanneer George thuis is. Zouden ze veel lachen met hem als hij er niet bij is?
Eigenlijk zouden ze ipv oorlog te voeren tussen naties op de ouderwetse manier, de zaken kunnen oplossen met kwisavonden, waarbij verschillende teams tegenover elkaar gaan zitten in het decor van de Pappenheimers. Maar dan wel met de huidige regeringen en niet met de beste kwissers van het land.
Die kerel van NoordKorea zou goed scoren in vragen over Hollywood, en Putin in vragen over de Berlijnse underground new wavescéne. Berlusconi weet alles over Frank Sinatra en Las vegas van zijn dagen als crooner op een cruise schip.
De Belgische regering zou haar mannetje staan me dunkt. Verhofstadt mag je alles vragen over sport en wijn. Vandelanotte en Landuyt zijn degelijke allround kwissers maar articuleren is de boodschap. Zeker in de finale. Aan Waalse zijde , zal het vooral moeten komen van Rudy Demotte. We kunnen winnen van Holland met onze vingers in de neus.
En wie gaat er de finale winnen denk je?
Mijn geld staat op Zweden.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Citaat in Humo nr. 3358
Sven Nys, wereldkampioen cyclocross (veel leuker woord dan veldrijden): 'Mijn zoontje Thibau doet mij gewoon vergeten dat ik voor het ogenblik de beste veldrijder van de wereld ben'. (Thibau was zeker niet aanwezig bij het interview)
Als Sven niet langer de beste veldrijder ter wereld is , hoop ik voor hem dat Thibau dat ook doet vergeten.
Als Sven niet langer de beste veldrijder ter wereld is , hoop ik voor hem dat Thibau dat ook doet vergeten.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
Topsport is ongezond.
Welke sporttak in de V.S. wordt het meest geplaagd door chronische kwetsuren na het beëindigen van de actieve sportloopbaan?
Niet football of boksen zoals ik dacht maar wel cheerleading.
Volgens mij zijn het die high kicks die het hem doen.
Niet football of boksen zoals ik dacht maar wel cheerleading.
Volgens mij zijn het die high kicks die het hem doen.
Friday, January 21, 2005
NBA fans
Hoi,
aan alle NBA fans met een gevoel voor humor: check deze column van Bill Simmons van ESPN! http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/050111
Bij sommige passages moest ik zoveel lachen dat het pijn deed. En dat van een Amerikaan die niet Michael Moore heet! In de column geeft hij trouwens toe dat Dirk Nowitzki de MVP van het moment is in de NBA maar hij stelt ook dat een niet-Amerikaan niet kan in aanmerking komen voor de officiële MVP titel. Quelle chauvinisme. Stel je voor dat wij de Gouden Schoen telkens aan een Belg moeten geven.
aan alle NBA fans met een gevoel voor humor: check deze column van Bill Simmons van ESPN! http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/050111
Bij sommige passages moest ik zoveel lachen dat het pijn deed. En dat van een Amerikaan die niet Michael Moore heet! In de column geeft hij trouwens toe dat Dirk Nowitzki de MVP van het moment is in de NBA maar hij stelt ook dat een niet-Amerikaan niet kan in aanmerking komen voor de officiële MVP titel. Quelle chauvinisme. Stel je voor dat wij de Gouden Schoen telkens aan een Belg moeten geven.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Undercover marketing.
Nieuw voor mij dit begrip, undercover marketing. Het gaat om een marketingtechniek (in de VS natuurlijk, where else?)waarbij reclamebedrijven acteurs betalen om in de nabijheid van potentiêle consumenten te 'stoefen' met een produkt. Bij de lancering van een nieuw drankje (Blue Bull bijv.) worden een paar 'leaners' in een trendy club losgelaten, die aan de bar ostentatief vragen naar Blue Bull. De andere klanten kennen dit natuurlijk niet en informeren de 'leaners' naar het nieuwe drankje. Zo wordt er een hype gecreeërd en twee uur later drinkt de helft van de aanwezige fuivers Blue Bull.
Je zal natuurlijk zeggen dat het bij ons nog niet toegepast wordt maar ondertussen ben ik wel wantrouwig geworden van vreemden die in mijn buurt een produkt aanprijzen.
Je zal natuurlijk zeggen dat het bij ons nog niet toegepast wordt maar ondertussen ben ik wel wantrouwig geworden van vreemden die in mijn buurt een produkt aanprijzen.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Spiders on drugs.
Hoi fellow bloggers,
de titel van deze blog is geïnspireerd door mijn favoriete TV-kwis 'QI' op BBC2. Als je het nog niet gezien hebt, zeker doen. Eén van de vragen betrof een experiment uitgevoerd door NASA op spinnen, meer bepaald onderzocht men wat er gebeurde wanneer je spinnen drugs toedient en dan een web laat weven. De resultaten zijn op zijn minst verrassend te noemen en kan je bekijken op www.missblackwidow.com/drugs.html. Vooral wijlen Timothy Leary zou trots zijn op het feit dat onder invloed van LSD, de spinnen quasi perfect geometrische webben weven. Het slordigste web (de vliegen lachten zich een breuk) kwam tot stand met caffeïne, de meest gebruikte drug in de wereld. Misschien moeten we die koffieautomaat op ons werk maar vervangen.
Nagedachte: welke drugs hebben ze uitgedeeld bij NASA dat ze op het idee komen om zoiets te onderzoeken?
de titel van deze blog is geïnspireerd door mijn favoriete TV-kwis 'QI' op BBC2. Als je het nog niet gezien hebt, zeker doen. Eén van de vragen betrof een experiment uitgevoerd door NASA op spinnen, meer bepaald onderzocht men wat er gebeurde wanneer je spinnen drugs toedient en dan een web laat weven. De resultaten zijn op zijn minst verrassend te noemen en kan je bekijken op www.missblackwidow.com/drugs.html. Vooral wijlen Timothy Leary zou trots zijn op het feit dat onder invloed van LSD, de spinnen quasi perfect geometrische webben weven. Het slordigste web (de vliegen lachten zich een breuk) kwam tot stand met caffeïne, de meest gebruikte drug in de wereld. Misschien moeten we die koffieautomaat op ons werk maar vervangen.
Nagedachte: welke drugs hebben ze uitgedeeld bij NASA dat ze op het idee komen om zoiets te onderzoeken?
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Een nieuwe blogger is geboren!
Gegroet collega-bloggers.
Toen ik zoëven mijn allereerste blogaccount aan het aanmaken was, gebeurde er één van die dingen die de meeste mensen toeval zullen noemen, maar waar ik graag meer achter zie.
Mijn vrouw (de nieuwsgierige schat!)vroeg zich luidop af wat ik aan het doen was op de PC, waarop ik bekende een 'blog' te beginnen.
'Blog?' zei ze.
In een paar minuten vertelde ik haar het weinige wat ik weet over weblogs en hun groeiende populariteit. Tevreden met mijn uitleg, zette ze zich voor de TV en zapte naar Canvas, waar Phara de Aguirre een reportage over weblogs en hun groeiende populariteit inleidde. Echt gebeurd!
Now is that some Twilight Zone doodoo or what?
Ik had nergens gehoord of gelezen van de reportage op Canvas en ik aarzel al een paar maand om een blog te beginnen.
Meer heb ik niet te zeggen in mijn 'maiden post' ; vergeef me , ik ben nog wat verlegen.
Tot binnenkort,
DS.
Toen ik zoëven mijn allereerste blogaccount aan het aanmaken was, gebeurde er één van die dingen die de meeste mensen toeval zullen noemen, maar waar ik graag meer achter zie.
Mijn vrouw (de nieuwsgierige schat!)vroeg zich luidop af wat ik aan het doen was op de PC, waarop ik bekende een 'blog' te beginnen.
'Blog?' zei ze.
In een paar minuten vertelde ik haar het weinige wat ik weet over weblogs en hun groeiende populariteit. Tevreden met mijn uitleg, zette ze zich voor de TV en zapte naar Canvas, waar Phara de Aguirre een reportage over weblogs en hun groeiende populariteit inleidde. Echt gebeurd!
Now is that some Twilight Zone doodoo or what?
Ik had nergens gehoord of gelezen van de reportage op Canvas en ik aarzel al een paar maand om een blog te beginnen.
Meer heb ik niet te zeggen in mijn 'maiden post' ; vergeef me , ik ben nog wat verlegen.
Tot binnenkort,
DS.
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