Sointula

Why I won´t buy Facebook-shares. Because.

Mr. Zuckerberg seems to think that he is the king of the world. Because seemingly nobody can live without Facebook. So he deems.

What Mr. Zuckerberg would rather not see is that social media sites are very sensitive when it comes to coolnesss and political correctness. Nobody would think it adequate these days to have a myspace-account. This bird was worth half a billion bucks in its great days. Today it is a boulevard of broken dreams.

Mr. Zuckerberg can´t possibly imagine a day when it will be utterly uncool to be on facebook. When the new craze will exactly be not to be there. And the day will come. So many possibilities to share things other ways. Or just let them be. And just enjoy a sunny day without feeling forced to share it.

There is a silent revolution already on the way. A slow murnur of voices like "no, I quit my facebook account, because I had enough of this poison". Because I don´t want to be cheated & sold. Because I can pick up the phone & talk to a friend in person. Or even write a letter. Or just be silent.

Globalisation, or: Amazon & the Indian guy

Started reading first volume of "Game Of Thrones" & finished 800 pages in four days. In dire need of volume two! Orderd it on Amazon & there was on offer & I agreed on using some privileged service which guaranteed speedy deliverance within 48 hours. And didn´t trouble myself with thinking about the consequences of what I was doing until this evening.

At a quarter to nine, my door bell starts ringing full force as if squat team is about entering my home at gunpoint. "This is your Amazon delivery", a guy squeaks through the intercom. Hurrying to the door. Outside there is a youngish Indian guy with my "Game Of Thrones"-book. He´s breathless, sweaty & nice. He says its his first day working for Amazon. He says he´s been working for more than twelve hours now, but that the pay is decent. His German is not very fluent, but ok. He visibly lights up when I switch to speaking English. He says he´s in a hurry & that he has some more deliveries to do. He says thank you & then his gone.

A special offer on Amazon. A job for an Indian guy. Who is so eager to please that he breaks my heart.

My poor biographer, or: The selected Facebook-likes of Emily Dickinson

Imagine I will get really famous one day. Maybe writing THE novel that will break everybody´s heart. The novel people will carry around with them, until the pages are almost torn. Imagine loads of people will be interested in my "private life" & clever people will aspire to write my biography.

Ouch. No secret drawer of hidden letters never sent. Just E-Mails ruthlessly deleted at some point.

No secret diaries hidden at a friend´s place in the attic. Blog entries, here and there, heavily edited.

My poor biographer will need profound IT-skills in order to solve some inconsistencies.

Future biographies will go like this:

"An abundant adventure: The selected Facebook-likes of Emily Dickinson".

"Out of the ashes I rise with my red hair: An analysis of Sylvia Plath´s Twitter friends."

"A lasting bond: An introduction to Emily Bronte´s Live Journal entries."

"A colourful adventure: George Eliot on Flickr."

Ouch!

The boring thoughts-movement

Lets be honest: Most of the thoughts we daily think are boring and trivial. Normal thing. To imagine that we might think eaxtraordinary thoughts all the time is fearsome thing to behold (to quite quote Jane Austen´s Elizabeth Bennett). Lets face it: the best about great thoughts is that they pop up only every now and then. And then you light up like a bulb or like Wickie from children´s television series who emanates sparkling stars whenever he comes up with a clever idea. Whoa!

Every time you open your Facebook- or Twitter-account etc, they attack you like hungry wolves: The ideas, suggestions, insights other people seem to have. All the time. All the interesting links you are often misled to follow. This constant overkill of lose ends.

Its time to start a boring thoughts-movement. Because only 10.000 boring thoughts bear one great idea.

Male logic, or: Play dumb & let women do your work

Lets call him giant baby. He certainly is looking like one. Tall, muscled, sheep-faced. Kindly sheep-faced like Shaun the Sheep. Of course he is heavily into sports, this young dude. Giant baby is a rare species of a male who openly talks about how to avoid work and leave it to women. Strategies are easy and classic: Play dumb. And cheat.

"I share a flat and never have to do the laundry".
"How come?"
"Very easy. I flooded the kitchen the first time I did it. Now the women won´t allow me ever to touch the washing machine again".
"But you do your part of the cleaning, right?"
"Not really. I just take the vacuum cleaner into the living room, turn it on, and simply leave it running for an hour without even touching it. After that, I tell my room-mates that I worked really hard and wouldn´t they agree that the room looks superclean?"
"Ahaaa."

Giant baby is on the contrary very keen on working real hard with his own hands when it comes to his bed. So he says.
"I built my bed entirely out of empty green beer boxes. It was not easy. And I personally drank all the beer in the boxes. It were many".
"Hmmm".
"I think it is very cool. I even bought green bed linen so the colours match".
He is so taken with his idea that he even shows me photographs of his green bed on his iphone.
Whoa, now my knees are really trembling.

Female Logic

Buying a sweet cinnamon role in a bakery in a village called Hammelbach up there in Odenwald mountains. Reading main headline of German tabloid Bild Zeitung displayed on the counter, featuring the fact that Uber-Macho Rudi Assauer (66), formerly manager of prominent football club Schalke 04, has gotten married to a woman 21 years younger than himself. Blonde, of course.

"When I´m 60, I am going to marry a 30 year old guy, a good looking one, of course", I commented jokingly.

"No way. I would always opt for a man considerably older than myself", the bakery woman replied.

"Why is that so?"

"They die earlier".

Germany, a green spring fairytale

An evening of jaws dropping. Just coming home from communal election extravaganza. & mood in normally quiet town of Darmstadt is ravenous: Green party just won 37,5% of all votes. The Social Democrats, who have been ruling this orderly Southern Hessian town since 1945, are clearly retreating. There will be a second ballot in two weeks, but there remains little doubt that the green candidate, Jochen Partsch, will make it in the end. My dear provinicial city of Darmstadt will probably be the first major town in the Federal State of Hessia with a green mayor. Jaws dropping.

These are historical crossroads for Germany. The Christian Democrats, who ruled my native Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg for almost 60 years, have been voted out of office today. My hometown Freiburg, a traditional green stronghold, won two direct seats in parliament against the conservative biggies. Green vote in Freiburg. Almost 50%. ;)

There is a definitive change in the air. Much more people went voting than expected. People, so it seems, are fed up with things as they are. Are fed up with lies.

People in the Southwest of Germany, and above all my Badenian fellowcountrypersons, always had this rebellious streak: The peasant wars, revolution of 1848, the early green movement: People of Baden have been there, fighting. There was one big nuclear power plant planned there back in the 70ies, in a village close to Freiburg. It was never built, thanks to the stubborn resistance of locals. People just threw the president of federal state (an ex-Nazi) out of their village. He never dared to return. ;)

Some months ago I thought that maybe Iceland is one of the most interesting places to live right now, because of all the changes, the energy & new ideas. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe Germany is! ;)

A song for Mr. Guttenberg: Thanks, Jason Collett

There is one last thing we have not yet learned about fallen-from-grace ex German minister of defence  & Mr. greasy hairstyle Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg: He has inspired a song! Canadian singer-songwriter Jason Collett, prominent member of Toronto collective Broken Social Scene, is touring Germany these days and - as everybody else- could not escape the dominant Guttenberg soap opera on how the most popular young German politician fell over copy-pasting his doctoral thesis. Ouch. So Mr. Collett, on the last day of his tour in lovely Hafen2 in Offenbach, presented a new song inspired by Mr. zu Guttenberg, not really ready yet, but focussing on being untrue und lying. And the shallowness behind it all. Nicely done, Mr. Collett & your guitar!

Who also sipped red wine onstage and didn´t seem too happy about it. Approached him after gig & after passioneately disturbing performance of second band of the evening, wildsters Tu Fawning from Portland, Oregon. Collett still gingerly finishing his red wine. "Clubs usually don´t serve good red wine", he smilingly complained. Without even bothering to check where his wine came from. And breaking into a rant of praise for  Canadian wine. Canadian wine? "Yes, there is a warm spot close to Niagara, and the wines from there are spectacular!" Well thanks for the information, can´t  wait to taste my first Canadian burgundy! ;)

<p>Jason Collett- Bitch City (Wood & Wires Video Series) from Adrian Vieni (Wood & Wires) on Vimeo.</p>

Girls in Hawaii: Not Here

A very personal and decidedly artsy documentary of a tour. Bits, pieces, snapshots, fragments. Belgian band Girls in Hawaii travelling Europe with their new album "Plan Your Escape" in 2008.

The band & filmmaker Christopher Yates - who travelled with the guys - label the documentary as "Wake Up Calls, Video Games, Wide Landscapes, Frontiers, Boredom, Roads Too Many Roads, Kung-Fu, Sun, Football, Girls, Snowflakes, Moustaches, Beers On The Bus, Climbing Trees, Backstage, Stage, Applause, Sleep, Dreams...

I would like to add: Spectacular sunrises, bitching at each other, being friends, being silly, enjoying surreal feelings, sweating, being dirty, smoking too much, watching closely, falling out of time, observing routines, being happy.Coming home to a home that feels suddenly strange.

I would also add poetry. And hilarious moments like when singer Antoine Wielemans (who btw is looking like a butcher´s apprentice, but singing the most tender & intelligent pop songs) late at night confesses that he desperately wants to fall in love. A moment of piercing clarity & utter honesty.

"Comment c´est calme".

<p>Girls In Hawaii _ Not Here _ Official trailer from Viktor Asger on Vimeo.</p>

Electric Suicide Club, or: Alone in Offenbach

Imagine the scenery: Relentless rain, temperatures close to freezing, dark dark night. Plus the deserted, run-down area of Offenbach´s harbour district, where one of the finest locations in the whole area is located, lovely Hafen 2.

Obviously the perfect time & place to check out a promising young band from France, youngsters Electric Suicide Club. Who have a certain drive & sense of cool, so quite looking forward to the gig & some serious dancing.

But, alas! Possibly the worst thing that can happen to a fairly unknown band is that everything is ready, soundcheck done, merch stuff lovingly arranged - and nobody turns up. With the exception of the authoress writing these lines. Yuck.

Possibly the worst thing you can do in this situation is pitying the band, murmuring, "oh, that´s too bad, don´t know whats happening, I am so sorry" and other seemingly soothing remarks. The trio seemed deeply distressed, sitting in corners, head in hands. The tour manager guy, quite speechless. Oh my. Talking in my best schoolgirl French to the band, hailing from Rock City Strasbourg, just across the river from hometown. They offered to play a song for me. They gave me loads of band stickers to put on the rear front of my car. Oh my.

Dear Strasbourg rocksters, wishing you good luck for the rest of the tour. Hope the good people of Dortmund, Menden and Hamburg will treat you better then Offenbach! Bonne chance!