Blog by Ruud Leeuw

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Welcome to my Blog! The lion roars!!!
I hope to share here my irrepressible thoughts on news, music, books, arts and such like. In general these will be items, events and issues which I feel have no place on my website (which focusses on aviation history and my travel photography).

The item immediately below this would be the latest posting.

Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself. - Charles Baudelaire
Esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived) - Bishop George Berkeley

In 2013 I started a series of photo albums on Blurb.com, named '36Exp' (a subject adressed in 36 exposures, a reference to the exposures on most common rolls of 35 mm film: 12, 24 & 36.). The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com website.
http://www.blurb.com/user/ruudleeuw

CURRENT BLOG

DASHIELL HAMMETT | BOOKS

As it happens, this book (1974) has an excellent introduction by Steven Marcus on Dashiell Hammett: that man led an 'interesting' life!
Dashiell Samuel Hammett was born in May 1894; his early years were spent in Philadelphia and Baltimore. He left high school at the age of 14. The first few years he worked odd jobs with indifferent success: on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, in factories and as a casual laborer. Writing on an advertisement one day landed him a job with the Pinkerton´s Detective Agency: work was challenging and exciting, dangerous even! It took him around the country and introduced him to all walks of life.
In 1918 he enlisted in the Ambulance Corps of the United States, became stationed near Baltimore. He came down with influenza, which led to tuberculosis.
In 1919 he returned to Pinkerton´s.
He became hospitalized during 1920 and 1921 in government hospitals, on the West Coast. Here he became involved with a nurse and they were married in 1920. In May 1921 he was discharged from the hospital, the married couple moved to San Francisco and started working there again for the Pinkerton´s.

During the years in San Francisco he developed an interest in writing, started with writing bits of verse, small sketches of his work as a detective and other apprentice work.
When he resigned and did other odd jobs, his health suffered and he became to realize he had little time left... He moved away from his family, found a cheap hotelroom and started writing. Sometimes he drank too much, lived on soup for days, but writing success was around the corner!
By the end of 1922 he appeared with some success in print and in Oct.1923 the first story featuring the Continental Op appeared. He made a name as an original talent, an innovator in a popular form of fiction, leading a new style, the "hard-boiled style" it became known as.
In 1929 Hammett invented Sam Spade and the Maltese Falcon became an instant success, made him famous.
During the late-1920s his marriage collapsed, two daughters were born of it. His life style included some heavy drinking, wild squandering of money and womanizing: he lived the part!
But he was also able to work with great self-discipline, working with great intensity.
Hammet moved from San Francisco to New York and suffered the Great Depression (1930), moving back to the West Coast. In Hollywood he found high-paying work in film projects. Here he met Lillian Hellman and they became involved in an impassioned and tempestuous relationship; while both were not always faithful to each other the relationship lasted 30 years, until his death.

By 1934 Hammett´s career as a creative writer was over, though he did not realize it at the time. He intended to write a play, but it never got written. He continued to work in the movie industry, during which time he became involved in left-wing and anti-fascist causes; he became a Marxist.
Hammett enlisted in the US Army during World War II, in spite of his bad health. He was sent to the Aleutians, where he edited a daily newspaper; he enjoyed his tour of duty. When he was discharged in 1945, he was 51, famous and faily affluent. But he had also contracted emphysema.
His drinking brough him down in 1948 and he managed to stop drinking entirely.
Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Cummunist witch hunt effected him to the extend that he spent time in jail. He stayed loyal to his causes. When he got out of prison he was exhausted and a very ill man. And he found he had been blacklisted in Hollywood, ended up broke as royalties and other payments had been blocked by governmental actions.
He withdrew and retired, living a quiet life until 1956, when he found his illness made it impossible to live alone. After that he lived with Lillian Hellman, under her care and companionship. In 1960 his lung conditioin had worsened and had become cancerous.
He died on 10Jan1961 and by his own wish was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

The Continental Op is a fictional character created by Dashiell Hammett. A private investigator employed as an operative of the Continental Detective Agency's San Francisco office, he never gives his name and so is known only by his job description.
The Op can, in many ways, be regarded as a protoype for the hardboiled detective later exemplified in such characters as Hammett's Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, and Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer, among others.
See also WIKIPEDIA

[28DEC10]

KUNSTKOPPEN | PHOTOGRAPHY

> Click on above image to see a larger version <

Michiel van Nieuwkerk photographs culturally commited people living in Amsterdam (Holland) for the Parool newspaper. Over 80 portraits were found on display, for a month, in the Amsterdam Historical Museum, in the 'Schuttersgalerij'.
Every portrait tells it own story about culture . The exposition lasts until 02Jan 2011 and admission is free - though a visit to the AHM, for which you have to buy a ticket, is recommended too!

[16DEC10]

SNOECKS 2011 | BOOKS

> Click on the image for a larger one <

The Snoecks 2011 edition has over 550 pages, measures about 23cm in height, is lavishly illustrated and features an enormous variety of articles.
The photo articles are more balanced this year in my opinion, still a lot of beauties (in itself photographed in very different styles by various photographers), but many other subjects are included too.
The long list of books published last year reminded me to buy a few in coming months.
I am not sure if this Snoecks publication is published in other languages than Dutch, though.
www.snoecks.be

[16DEC2010]

FACEBOOK | SOCIAL MEDIA

Earlier this year I joined Facebook, after having made accounts on Flickr and YouTube in previous years. And sofar I've found it fascinating to keep in touch with friends and 'semi-strangers' this way.

In Feb. 2004 Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckenberg and three roommates (Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz) at the University of Harvard. Peter Thiel invested $500.000 and by end-2004 some one million users had registered.
In 2005 Accel Partners invested 12.7 million dollar. Facebook set up a international network and passes the 5.5 million subscribers.
A consortium of riskinvestors put up another 27.5 million dollar. Mark Zuckenberg rejects an offer by Viacom and Yahoo to buy Facebook from him for one billion dollars. The score settles at 12 million users.
In 2007 Google offers to buy shares of Facebook, but instead Microsoft becomes owner for 1.6% at a cost of 240 million dollar. And over 50 million people have registered with Facebook.
Over 100 million people have registered in 2008.
DST invests 200 million dollar - 350 million users. And this year there are some 500 million Facebook subscribers worldwide.

Mark Zuckenberg speaks English, French, Hebrew, Latin and Greek; these days he studies Mandarin. Because he is colourblind, blue has become the colour of Facebook. He was proclaimed Person of the Year 2010 by Time Magazine.
Former roommate Savarin has become estranged by his former roommates; Hughes made fame as coördinator in the Obama Presidentialcampaign of My.BarackObama.com.

[Source: extensive article in the Financial Times]

[11DEC10]

REMARKABLE NEWS

A man from Antwerp, Belgium walked for a year around with 2 scissors (16 cm!) in his intestines, which had been forgotten after surgery.
This news appeared in the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws yesterday.
Glen G. (50) suffered considerable pain, but the surgeon wouldn't listen. The fact that 2 scissors were found missing after surgery was solved at the time by taking two from another set.
Recently the man took the initiative to have x-rays: the scissors showed up clearly on the images.
The surgeon and the hospital admitted guilt, the hospital offered 5.000 euro in damages, but the man demanded 80.000 euro.

[09Dec10]

RICHARD CORY | POETRY

I was surprised to come across poetry named 'Richard Cory', written by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 - 1935), as now, after so many years, I know where Paul Simon found the inspiration for his lyrics.

'Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him;
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Richard Cory - Edwin Arlington Robinson

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town
with political connections to spread his wealth around
born into society a banker's only child
He had everything a man could want power, grace and style
But I work in his factory and I curse the life I'm living
and I curse my poverty and I wish that I could be
Oh I wish that I could be Oh I wish that I could be Richard Cory

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes
Richard Cory at the opera Richard Cory at a show
and the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht
oh he surely must be happy with everything he's got
But I work in his factory and I curse the life I'm living
and I curse my poverty and I wish that I could be
Oh I wish that I could be Oh I wish that I could be Richard Cory

He freely gave to charity he had the common touch
and they were greatfull for his patronage and they thanked him very much
so my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read
Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head
But I work in his factory and I curse the life I'm living
and I curse my poverty and I wish that I could be
Oh I wish that I could be Oh I wish that I could be Richard Cory

Richard Cory - Paul Simon

[08Dec10]

JOE BONAMASSA | MUSIC

It's sofar only my 2nd album I bought from Joe Bonamassa, but he has definitely won me over with his solid electric blues music!
The name of this album is Black Rock, and I am particularly pleased I bought the limited edition deluxe version. If all albums are produced like this, for this price, I am sure the people who merely download the music would think again.
Over the past week I've played it many times and my favourite songs are 'Blue and Evil' and 'Night Life'; the latter has B.B. King playing too, fantastic!
Excellent music and a beautifully produced album!

[08Dec10]

MILLENNIUM I - II - III | BOOKS

When I noticed the hype going on for Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and the two books that followed, completing the Milliennium series, I decided not to read them as yet, because I don't like reading hype material. So I decided to await the reviews after the hub-bub had calmed down a bit.
When visiting Sweden this summer I decided to buy them after all.
I read other books before starting on the next, to neutralize my taste and focus. And found myself enjoying them every single minute!

The Millennium name stems from the name of a magazine specializing in exposing wrong doings in various levels: fraud, child labor, sex-trafficking, etc. Mikael Blomkvist works as a publisher and shareholder of this magazine.
Blomkvist faces a prison sentence due to a backlash of an exposé article and meanwhile accepts an assignment to delve in the history of the Vanger family, attempting to solve the loss of a child. He comes across Lisbeth Salander, an enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist and finds she is also a genius computer hacker with a photographic memory; she also has an attitude.
Blomkvist is single and has a relationship with Erika Berger, who is Editor-in-Chief of Millennium as well as shareholder; her husband is aware of this relationship. Mikael strikes up a sexual relationship with Salander. All these characters have their flaws and are different from the moral mainstream. Which provides for some interesting character developments.

The various plots continue and meet & mix. A common factor in all three books is the fact that Salander has been put in a mental institution for years when she was a child. There is a conspiracy behind this and the effects are noticable in character as well as storyline.
In Millennium II a conspiracy sees Lisbeth Salander accused of murder and again various storylines mix and mingle.

The third book sees government involvement in attempting to put Salander away again, and follows Blomkvist in an attempt to unravel the complot and set Salander free; he involves his sister as Salander's lawyer. Meanwhile Berger has accepted another job and is followed in her problems, finding a stalker making her life difficult. A police inspector strikes up a relationship with Blomkvist.
Again, storylines tumble and twist, many characters appear on the scene.

Steig Larsson involves a lot of details to his stories, not all of it relevant to the final plot (where they walk or drive, what they wear, how long it takes from A to B, what they have for breakfast, etc), but it certainly adds to the character of the book and reading. These books must have taken an enormous amount of research, they are very factual.
A great pity to know that Stieg Larsson died before he could see the great success of the Millennium Trilogy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_Larsson

[06DEC10]

SYLVIA WITTEMAN | BOOKS

Sylvia Witteman write columns and is the (Dutch) author of a series of cookbooks. I like her columns very much, she is very witty, down to earth and a brilliant cynic.
In this mad world where everyone occasionally have to suffer bad spells and injustice by fate or misfortune, she can really brighten up your day.
For those who can read Dutch, her website is www.sylviawitteman.nl

[05dec10]

GOOGLE

Google has published its logos and doodles on Google.com/logos/

[05DEC10]

DUTCH WORDS THAT LEFT THEIR MARK ON AMERICAN ENGLISH | HISTORY

HOW SINTERKLAAS BECAME SANTA CLAUS...

In short: From Dutch Santa klaas, a dialectal variant of Sinterklaas, which is a corruption of Sint Nicolaas; adopted in the 17th century and very widespread.

The long version:
Every year,the Dutch Sinterklaas sails from Spain to the Netherlands on his steamship, surrounded by Black Petes, his attendants, who throw pepernoten (spice nuts) among the children.
On the evening of December 5th, the eve of his birthday, Sinterklaas lands on the roofs of houses on a horse, throwing presents down the chimney and into children's shoes put for that purpose at the fireplace.
But children who have been naughty don't get any presents. Naughty children run the risk of being taken back to Spain in the gunny sack of the Black Petes, to work in Sint's factory.

Sinterklaas can easily be identified as he is dressed somewhat as a cardinal: he wears a long red-and-white gown and a miter, he has a long white beard, rides a white horse and when he goes by foot he carries a staff and walks & talks in a dignified manner.
What a contrast with Santa Claus, who arrives from the North Pole flying through the sky on his reindeer-drawn sleigh with jingling bells. He too distributes presents, but does so on Christmas Eve december 24th, for which children hang stockings from the chimney.
Santa Claus is a chubby man, who shouts 'ho! ho! ho!' and is dressed in a red and white suit, is aided by elves who make the presents for him.

So how did Sinterklaas become Santa Claus?

It is important to note that most paraphernalia surrounding Sinterklaas did not become part of the holiday in the Low Countries until the 19th century.

The Sinterklaas holiday that the Dutch settlers introduced on the East Coast of the US in the 17th century was different from its present-day version. It has been customary since the 16th century at least for children in the Low Countries to put their shoe in front of, or hangstockings on, the hearth on Dec. 5th, the day before the name day of Saint Nicholas (which is contacted into Sinterklaas), to find a present in the next morning.
In the course of the 16th century, the Reformation increasingly gained a foothold in the Low Countries, and the Catholic saints were renounced. In the 17th century, certain municipal authorities even went so far as to prohibit the celebration of Saint Nicholas. To no avail, however, as the holiday was very popular among young and old.

There is no doubt that the New Netherlanders definitely brought this popular custom to the US.
From a baker's receipt from 1675 it appears that Miss Van Rensselaer had bought sinterklaesgoet and, in 1773, Sinterklaas suddenly appeared in New York, never to depart. By then he was already called Santa Claus, after the Dutch dialectal for Sante Klaas.

[04DEC2010]

WIKILEAKS | NEWS

[30NOV10]

FIRST SNOW

postponing my
start of the day
I sit and consider
the house all quiet
the windows shows
snowflakes falling
cat sleeps in a
corner of the couch
I hear muffled voices
next door
a bird pauses on rooftop
thirty seconds,and disappears
tree branches mime movement
chilled with frost
outside could wake me up
but not just yet
¶ RL

[30nov10]

LIEUTENANT BLUEBERRY | COMIC BOOKS

The 'Wild West' was popular in the 1960s and early-1970s. On tv we had the series Rawhide and High Chaparral, I read the books of Arendsoog (discussed elsewhere on my blog), those by Karl May and also the Conny Coll books. In terms of comic books I collected the series on Lieutenant Mike Blueberry.
If I remember correctly it was also in a weekly publication called the 'Pep'.
These films and books instilled in me an interest in the 'Old West' folklore, saw many a western in the cinema of course and later also travelled to the locations where actual filming had taken place, in the US Southwest.
My growing interest led me to research 'How the West was actually won', by collecting books on the early trappers and mountain men, e.g. Joe Meek, Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger, etc.
And during the 1980s I also visited many ghost towns in US States such as Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, California, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
The Blueberry comic strips had a lot to do in developing my interest in this direction.

My interest was rekindled recently when I was given the Blueberry film on dvd; it came with a warning: it isn't as good as the books! And indeed it isn't. For one thing I could have done without the lengthy computer graphics on ghosts and other tiring visuals. But the 'photography' was good and it was a nice surprise to see Eddy Izzard as Prosit, the conniving Prussian officer. IMDB.com

> Click on the image for a larger one <

Blueberry is a Franco-Belgian comics western series created by the Belgian scriptwriter Jean-Michel Charlier and French comics artist Jean "Mœbius" Giraud. It chronicles the adventures of Mike Blueberry on his travels through the American Old West.
The story follows Michael Steven Donovan, nicknamed "Blueberry", a name he chose when fleeing from his Southern enemies (which was inspired when he looked at a blueberry bush), starting with his adventures as a lieutenant in the United States Cavalry shortly after the American Civil War. He is accompanied in many tales by his hard-drinking deputy, Jimmy McClure, and later also by Red Woolley, a rugged pioneer.

Blueberry was first published in the October 31, 1963 issue of the comics magazine Pilote. Initially titled "Fort Navajo", the story grew into 46 pages over the following issues.
In this series Blueberry - whose physical appearance was inspired by French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo - was only one of many protagonists. Charlier came up with the name during his American trip: 'When I was traveling throughout the West, I was accompanied by a fellow journalist who was just in love with blueberry jam, so much in love, in fact, that I had nicknamed him "Blueberry". When I began to create the new series, and everything started to fall into place, I decided to reuse my friend's nickname, because I liked it and thought it was funny. I had no idea that he would prove so popular that he would eventually take over the entire series, and later we would be stuck with that silly name!'
Charlier and Giraud continued to add to the legend of Mike Blueberry in Pilote and other titles even into the 1990s. During that time the artistic style has varied greatly, much as with Giraud's other works.
[Wikipedia, more...]

www.zozolala.com/Top100_Blueberry.html (Dutch)

See also my item below, dated 07Oct10

[16NOV10]

CROSSROADS - GUITAR FESTIVAL | MUSIC

The Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007 and 2010. The above image is from the 2010 DVD.
The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of guitarists. All were hand-picked by Eric Clapton himself, who addressed the 2007 audience, saying that each were some of the very best, and those who had earned his respect.
The title crossroads refers to the legend of Robert Johnson who sold his soul to the devil at 'the crossroads', in return for his amazing talent. But crossroads can mean anything in anyone's life.
Eric Clapton also made an album titled 'Crossroads', in 1990.
This festival is a platform for new talent, but old hands in folk, blues, country jazz & rock also take to the stage, an inspiration to the new talent as well as the audience.
This DVD has over 4:30 hours of music to enjoy.

For more on this see:
Wikipedia
Crossroads Centre Antigua

[16NOV10]

STEVE McCURRY | PHOTOGRAPHY

This weekend my book collection was expanded by this large format photography book.
A word on the photographer and the million miles travelled, documented by his wonderful photography

At least 10 years ago I visited an exhibition of Mr McCurry's work and it left a big impression.
His photos have a time machine quality to it, they also illustrate an intimacy one seldom sees in travel photography, as he succeeds to bridge cultures and become a welcome friend or at least a respected visitor.
The roads he travelled are not the roads you also take to return home to, but rather roads one continues to travel.
This book 'The Unguarded Moment' contains impressive photography and include photos undoubtedly taken on Kodachrome film, when you had to use a tripod instead toggling an ISO/ASA number on ones digital camera. The photos show dedication and purpose, as well as respect to the people documented. It is all about people, it documents and educates.

From Amazon.com:
Born in Philadelphia, Steve McCurry studied history and cinematography at Pennsylvania State University before working as a freelance photographer in India. He is best known for his evocative colour photography, which has captured stories of human experience that, in the finest documentary tradition, cross boundaries of language and culture. His career was launched when he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion to take the first pictures of the conflict. Since then many of McCurry’s images have become modern icons. A high point of his career was the rediscovery of an unidentified Afghan refugee girl, which many have described as the most recognizable photograph in the world today. His coverage won him the Robert Capa Gold Medal for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise.

McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including the Iran-Iraq war, Beirut and the Gulf War. But his travels have also taken him to southeast Asia and the spiritual temples of Angkor Wat and Cambodia, made known to many through his memorable images for National Geographic magazine. A member of the international photo agency Magnum Photos since 1986, he is the recipient of numerous awards including Magazine Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Press Photographers Association. This was awarded in the same year in which he won an unprecedented four first prizes in the World Press Photo Contest. He has won the Olivier Rebbot Memorial Award twice.

Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McCurry

[14NOV2010]

ROY LICHTENSTEIN | ART

Though I know my classic painters, I know little from modern art. It is all beyond me, except Andy Warhol and ... Roy Lichtenstein.
I know what I like but was stupified to read this week what someone was willing to pay for Lichtenstein's "Ohhh... Alright": at Christie's in New York someone won with his bid for 42,6 million dollar (30.8 million euro).
The previous record for Lichtenstein's work was 16,2 million dollar, paid in 2005.

Roy Lichtenstein (October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the basic premise of pop art better than any other through parody.
Favoring the old-fashioned comic strip as subject matter, Lichtenstein produced hard-edged, precise compositions that documented while it parodied often in a tongue-in-cheek humorous manner.
[Wikipedia, more...]

[NOV2010]

JIM SPILSBURY | BOOKS

The nice thing about these books about early aviation and pioneering is that these books also allow an insight in condition of life in general.
Jim Spilsbury was born in 1905 and describes his life and career in three books (the third is 'Spilsbury's Coast', which I thought I had but haven't been able to find as yet).
Jim developed his hobby of radio communication into a business and at some point found that owning an aircraft would be far more efficient for him, cutting short the travelling time which he did by boat.
His clients, the users of the radio equipment, lived in the settlements dotted along the coast of British Columbia, Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands. Among his clients were also logger firms and when he started arriving by airplane, they were interested in chartering it; this developed into an
airline, more or less by accident, esspecially when he cut a deal with Grant McConachie.

His aviation books deal with the above the rise and fall of QCA-Queen Charlotte Airlines, and plenty of (Ottawa) politics thrown in.
The album has a large part dedicated to personal cicrcumstances too. Jim Spilsbury has an easy flowing pen, but fortunately has been also an avid photographer. The book shows the depletion of coastal settlements, when people moved to the larger cities.
I thank Dirk Septer for giving me Spilsbury's Album, indeed a treasured addition to my book collection.

It struck me how we take communication for granted these days, with the availability of internet, cellular phones and webcams. These books may serve to rekindle the appreciation for these facilities and how vastly living conditions have approved for many if not most people.

Helpful external links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Spilsbury
http://www.bcaviation.com/spilsbry.htm
http://www.abcbookworld.com/

[12NOV10]

RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY | NEWS

The Russians have their own interpretation of democracy: it doesn't include freedom of speech!

Earlier this week leading journalist Oleg Kashin was severely beaten up: broken legs, broken fingers and a broken jaw; so for the time being he isn't going anywhere, not going to speak up and it is hard to type or write with broken fingers... A point clearly made, esspecially considering the location: it took place a 10 minutes' walk away from the Kremlin!
He was soon followed by Anatoliy Adamchuk, from the Zhukovskiye Vesti suburban Moscow weekly, he suffered concussion and head injuries.
On Oct.17th tv journalist Natalia Arhiptsevoy was shot in the leg while in a restaurant. And on June 27th Dimitry Okkert, another tv journalist, was found in his apartment stabbed to death.
Obviously this isn't done by thugs from the KGB these days, but by hardcore criminals with 'business interests'.

Journalist Anna Politkovskaja was killed in front of her house in Moscow on 07Oct06; she wrote critical on Russia's involvement in the Chechen Republic (Chechnya). So governmental interests and involvement shouldn't be ruled out.
The Molodaya Gvardiya ('The Young Guard'), which hasn't been named Putinjugend for nothing, had Oleg Kashin labelled as a traitor; they had a caption with his photo their website stating 'Will Be Punished'.

On the index for Freedom of Press, which lists 196 countries, Russia is on 175...

The wife of recently dismished Mayor of Moscow, Jelena Baturina, managed to become the richest woman of Russia by trading real estate; she was allowed to buy forestry cheap and sell it for a for a thousandfold. Journalists exposing this sort of injustice risk their life.

[09Nov10]

NEWSPAPER EXTINCTION TIMELINE

Ross Dawson is of opinion that printed newspapers will vanish from our daily life. Since each country embrace the digital use in different ways, the end to these newspapers will vary from country to country. He published a fascinating timeline.
The striped areas will see newspapers disappear in metropolitan areas before regional areas.

The USA is expected to see printed newspapers disappear in 2017; well, many of them seem to have sports as their main news item, so that wouldn't be so surprising - but 2017 is only 7 years away!
Next would be UK and Iceland, in 2019, followed one year later by Canada and Norway. The Dutch newspapers will see their printing machines come to a grinding halt in 2027 and I am comfortable with the time that remains for us.
The second image has the factors that will carry the printed newspapers to doom: cost development on printing versus e-readers, etc - bandwidth availability - degree of urbanization and literacy - regulations and (financial) support - advertising focussing on digital platforms - willingness to pay for news.
www.futureexploration.net/Newspaper_Extinction_Timeline.pdf
rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2010/10/launch_of_newsp.html

[08Nov2010]

HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY | BOOK

In the late 1970s I was introduced to a comedy radioplay by my friend Stuart Brighton. He had it on LP and made a tape for me. Consequently I bought several of the Pan books, as I was completely sold to the weird humor by the author Douglas Adams.
During this time guidebooks were starting to appear but still a long way off from any common availability and popularity. I remember the difficulties I had in obraining information on travel in Tunesia during the early 1980s, though I did find a thorough guidebook for my travels through Indonesia at that time.
So a guidebook for travelling outer space was quite absurd and stretching the imagination in a wonderful way.
The infrastructure in the UK was undergoing an important change. Many villages lost income when bypasses were introduced; traffic was led around the towns for all sorts of good reasons, but those who made money from people stopping (e.g. for gas, food or beverages) complained bitterly. The play (and of course the book) starts with the fact that planet Earth is going to be demolished to make way for an interstellar bypass by the ruthless Vogons...

Arthur Dent escapes with help from his friend Ford Prefect (an alien from planet Betelgeuse, who took his name from a popular British car) is in fact an undercover researcher for the Hitchhiker's Guide (which has in large comforting letters Don't Panic' on the cover) and so these two embark on a confusing trip though space. They meet all kind of weird and wonderful characters such as Zaphod Beeblebrox and the depressed android Marvin.

Marvin, Zaphod, Ford and Arthur

They also encounter a computer as large as a planet, which was built for the purpose of finding the answer 'to life and everything', but the answer provided, after decades ('42') of waiting, needs further research...

The film that was made of it was nice and entertaining, but I like the book(s) because it has lots and lots more.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams

[03Nov10]

NOTHING WORSE THAN AN EDUCATED FOOL | OPINION

Childish, but effective, ridicule of US President Barack Obama

The Mr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde qualities of the United States had struck me a long time ago.
How religious conservatists can be so vehemetly pro death penalty; and long term imprisonment.
A country which always speaks of the family and family values being the cornerstone and fabric of society, has the highest percentage of divorce.
A country which wants to do good in the world, exercise its sense of human rights abroad, refuses to share its wealth among less fortunate fellow countrymen.

In terms of foreign policies the USA seemed more or less in balance most of the time, though one could point the finger towards the fact that the Yanks have no trouble fighting a war abroad. And President G W Bush may have started making stupid statements political acceptable upon his statement “those who are not with us, are against us!”.

These days the USA are divided as black and white; outlooks on a way of life come to a head during the election of the Senate Nov. 2nd, the socalled Mid Term Elections. The outcome may well be felt around the globe.

While I value the freedom of speech, I cannot stand stupidity. And many seem to have taken leave of their senses. Behind the loud outcries of protest lies not a difference in ideals, but rather powerful strategies involving false information via the media.
Even more simplified: at the core lies greed.

President of the US, Barack Obama (elected less than two years ago), has included in his program measures to protect also the less fortunate in American society, restore jobs and to reorganize health care. These are included in a package which include many other programs, but are hit upon as they are identified as ‘socialist’ (çommunist' even!).
A frightingly large part of the Yanks don’t want to spend a dime on other people’s welfare and easily lend their ear to forces opposing these policies.

The Vietnam War was lost because of the media. Television demonstrated its power: comments repeated over and over, and footage. The Americans showed their military power, we saw planes dropping their bombs and were impressed by their killing power. Europe was still grateful for being freed from by the Nazis by the American warmachine and easily identified as the good guys. Hollywood showed us on the screen how life should be regarded: there were good guys and bad guys; the bad guys got killed.
On television the underdog won more and more sympathy and the war was lost because support fell away. Military supremacy lost against media information. Even the government of a superpower lost against media information.

These days we see revolution through the media without military involvement. Don’t underestimate it: a cry for Obama’s impeachment is being voiced loud and clear by members of the Tea Party.
The Gulf Wars were started on misinformation and false pretense.What is good for wars could proof useful for elections too.

The ingredients for the new revolution: a small core of powerful people (their objective: power and profits), a number of media-qualified faces willing to be identified for this (their gain: political power), television (their gain: profit through rise in popularity), false information (tv commercials, interviews by politicians and celebrities), an audience (their gain: reassurance no one will take their money away).
To name some names to the above: the Koch brothers (channelling millions of dollars for rightwing causes, including the Tea Party).
Politicians like Sarah Palin.
Fox News.
Tea Party members.
People funding vast amounts through organizations such as CitizensUnited.org can remain anonymous.

Keywords in these elections are FALSE INFORMATION.
Fox News is spreading the muck expediently. It has become the voice of the Republican Party in the US, in their desperate struggle to regain power in the White House. The trick is to mix fact and fiction carefully I thought, but now this care has been abandoned and the bullshit is unbelievable.
And that is where the stupidity factor comes in, far and wide.
In less than two years in office, 18% of the Americans believe that Obama is a muslim, 27% believe he (probably) wasn’t born in the USA…. Twenty seven percent!
41% of the Republicans believe this to be true.
And 14% of the entire US population believe that Obama is the anti-Christ; 25% of the Republicans are convinced this is true. Outrageous.
USofA=Utter Stupidity of America

Profile of the Tea Party member: he/she is predominantly white, over 43 and well educated.
Nothing worse than an educated fool…
I bring back to mind the ‘greed factor’ and the unwillingness to share for welfare of others, inspite of their religious ‘commitment’.
There is no clear political agenda for the Tea Party; the main aim of the anti-Obama hysteria seems to be to cripple Obama’s political power and cut his political program short.
That would also be the aim for the ‘puppeteers’ behind the scene and behind this upheaval.

Late in the day, common sense got a voice too, when talkshow hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen brought a huge crowd to Washington D.C.

Restore Sanity - Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart

Jon (above, right) organized his ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’ and Stephen (above, left) his ironic ‘March to Keep Fear Alive’ and over 200.000 people supported this with their presence.
Their may yet be hope for common sense to prevail in the US, but I fear that the gullable & uneducated as well as the less informed will easily be won over by the tsunami of false information in the media, feeding on dissatisfaction, uncertainties and other dark emotions. And funded by rightwing conservatists and rich capatalists.

Meanwhile an obscene amount of money will be spent on these congressional elections: over US$3.3bn is expected to be circulated. OpenSecrets.org can be checked for this sad state of affair.

If the Republicans gain overwhelming majority in the Senate, Obama will be severely handicapped in fullfilling his political program and may even only serve one term, proclaimed a failure.
This Tea Party upheaval may well be recognized as a revolution in years to come.
But it should also be identified as being instigated not for morals, the fight for human rights or democracy, but simply for power and greed.

[02NOV2010]

THE KILLING II (FORBRYDELSEN II) | DVD REVIEW

The Killing I left me very much impressed with this Scandinavian crime drama and full of anticipation I sat and watched The Killing II (Forbrydelsen II). And I was not disappointed.
This Danish DR 1 television production was just as fascinating as the previous series, but this time the drama took 'only' 10 episodes to be told.
This past week my life was lived around these episodes...

Sofie Gråbøl again plays police inspector Sarah Lund, a bit more aware of human relations around her but only barely. She is as single minded and determined as ever, and has the support of her chief, the stern and commanding (what a face!) Lennart Brix, played by Morten Suurballe.
Mikael Birkkjaer plays Sarah Lund's collegue, Ulrik Strange. He finds a way to cooperate with Lund, but many a time he is as dumbfounded by her as Jan Meyer in The Killing I.

Again three plotlines unfold along parallel lines:
1. investigation in the murder of a lawyer and several military,
2. newly appointed Secretary of Justice Thomas Buch (played by Nicolas Bro) fights against political intrige, and
3. Jens Peter Raben escapes from medical imprisonment to seek answers (troubled by loss of memory) into allegations and fighting estrangement by his wife (daughter of his military commander) and his young son.

Each episode has twists and turns, preparing for the final episode which has yet more surprises. Dark and compelling until the very last minute.

Cannot wait until The Killing III and Sarah Lund makes her reappearance!

[29OCT2010]

MOHAMMED MOST POPULAR BOY NAME IN GREAT BRITAIN| NEWS

A total of 7,549 newborns were given 12 variations of the Islamic prophet Mohammed’s name last year, such as Muhammad, Mohammad, Muhammed, Mohamed, Mohamad, Muhamed, Mohammod, Mahamed, Muhamad, Mahammed and Mohmmed, and still more possible...
It shot up from third the previous year, overtaking Jack, which had topped the list for the past 14 years but was relegated to third spot.
The second most popular boy’s name, Oliver, was given to 7,364 babies.
Harry and Alfie came in fourth and fifth place respectively.
Olivia topped the list for little girls for the second year in a row, behind Ruby and Chloe.
Source:www.dailymail.co.uk/

[28OCT10]

REUTERS - OUR WORLD NOW [3] | BOOK

I always enjoy the high quality of photography by the Reuters photographers.
The year 2009 in photos, 348 colour illustrations can be found in this Thames & Hudson publication. Headliners which you may remember, but also striking photography of less illuminated events, vividly depicting sadness and happiness in less travelled corners of our planet.
Brilliant work.

[23OCT10]

GOOD AND BAD IN THE LOW COUNTRIES | NEWS

The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index ranked the Netherlands on 1st place for its retirement income system, which comprises a flat-rate public pension and a quasi-mandatory earnings-related occupational pension linked to industrial agreements.
Most employees belong to these occupational schemes which are industry-wide defined benefit plans with the earnings measure based on lifetime average earnings.

But the quality of the healthcare system in The Netherlands is in rapid decline for a number of years now; here is one such example-

Marco Ekema fell from a roof and was submitted to the UMC hospital in Hilversum. But the doctor failed to see anything wrong and sent him home. In his underwear, because they had cut up his clothing and no spare clothing was immediately available. It was a busy time at the hospital and worse cases and been brought in.
Marco, meanwhile, was under extreme pain in spite of the medication he'd been given. It took over an hour to get him into bed at home; he was a big guy and five men helped to carry him to his bed on the first floor.
The G.P. was sent for after two more days in agonizing pain; this doctor ordered a big lift to carry Marco back into an ambulance. Closer examination in the hospital revealed several broken vertebrae, as well as broken bones in his lower back; also his left arm was found to be broken in two places and his elbow was fractured.
The doctor who failed to make a correct diagnosis has offered his apologies; the hospital told the family they could file a complaint.
www.gooieneemlander.nl (Dutch)

If you survive the healthcare here, you may await a decent pension...

[23OCT2010]

ARNALDUR INDRIDASON | WRITER

Arnaldur Indriðason (born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction. He has repeatedly proved to be the most popular writer in Iceland in recent years, topping bestseller lists year after year.
I only recently became aware of his books, although the Inspector Erlendur series started in the late 1990s.
The first two titles don't seem to be readily available in an English translation, but after reading these two titles 'The Draining Lake' and 'Arctic Chill' I found myself quickly ordering the other titles too.

Synir duftsins (Sons of Dust, 1997)
Dauðarósir (Silent Kill, 1998)
Mýrin (Tainted Blood, also known as Jar City, 2000) xxx
Grafarþögn (Silence of the Grave, 2001) xxx
Röddin (Voices, 2003) xxx
Kleifarvatn (The Draining Lake, 2004)
Vetrarborgin (Arctic Chill, 2005)
Harðskafi (Hypothermia, 2007) xxxx
Myrká (2008)
Svörtuloft (2009)

http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.vjbooks.com/Arnaldur-Indridason-s/

Stories are written around events we could read about in the paper; the relations between Inspector Erlendur and his collegues Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg play their part, as well as Erlendur's troubled relations with his children and his own past - his little brother disappeared, never to be found, on a trip he made when a child with his father and brother.
And there is the backdrop of Iceland with its political issues, harsh climate, etc. I have fond memories of visiting Iceland in 2007.

[18OCT10]

WINGS OF THE NORTH by DICK TURNER | BOOKS

Excerpt from backcover:

... the cold fear when
the wings start to ice, the
pressure of deciding if
a frozen river is solid, or
if the plane will go through
into the icy water ...

Dick Turner started a life as a trapper in 1930 entering the Northwest Territories. When he had sat up a business many years later, (1958, aged 47) he decided to take flying lessons and buy a light plane to fly stores to his trading post; he particpated in Medical flights and took trappers in & out of The Bush.
Flying treacherous wind and weather among the Rocky Mountains, looking down on timbered hills and ice-bound lakes, he learned many a lesson and they provide nice reading here.
Dick Turner also looks back on his trapping days, in fact he has another attempt trapping Beaver and Lynx, but he also worked as a surveyor for minerals and as a Justice of the Peace.

I thank Dirk Septer for giving me this book. Delightful reading.

Map

Wikipedia: Nahanni Butte + South Nahanni River

[18OCT10]

KARL MAY | BOOKS

The other day I reread a book I'd read as a teenager: big mistake! The story that once held me firmly in a grip, had lost all its sparkle and suspense.
Stories set in the Wild West instilled in me a desire to travel to that part in the world, but to be honest these days travelling the same part of the world doesn't instill the same sensation by far as when I saw my dreams come true and set foot in Arizona 30 years ago. We change.
So I thought it best to clean out my bookcase of Arendsoog, Conny Coll and Karl May books. But not without a final word.

Karl Friedrich May (February 25, 1842 – March 30, 1912) was a German writer, noted mainly for books set in the American Old West, (best known for the characters of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand) and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East (with Kara Ben Nemsi and Hadschi Halef Omar). In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America. May also wrote poetry and a play, as well as composing music; he was proficient with several musical instruments. May's musical version of Ave Maria became very well known.
He led a troubled life, as a young man he was put in prison more than once. When his work became successful, he was criticed and sued. At times he had difficulty seperating truth and fiction, he identified himself with the Old Shatterhand Legend.
It is often said he wrote his storied without actually having been there; this is partly true: he did travel to the Orient and also to the USA (but never made it to the Old West).

Karl May had a substantial influence on a number of well-known German-speaking people - and on the German population itself.[8] The popularity of his writing, and indeed, his (practically always German) protagonists, are considered by some as having filled a lack in the German psyche which had few popular heroes until the 19th Century.[9] His readers longed to escape from an industrialised, capitalist society, an escape which May offered them
It is stated that Karl May is the 'most read writer of German tongue'. The total number of copies published is about 200 millions, half of this are German copies.

Extensive details on Karl May can be found on Wikipedia

[18OCT10]

AVIATION HUMOR | LINK

http://aviationhumor.net

[17OCT10]

EOS 60D | PHOTO EQUIPMENT

Hmm, should I replace my EOS 50D with the new EOS 60D? Or is the EOS 7D the way to go...
Academic really, as I don't have requirement nor the budget for it right now. But dwelling on the possibility is nice.
http://photo.net/equipment/canon/60D/hands-on-preview/

[17oct10]

CONNY COLL by CONRAD KOBBE | BOOKS

When I was a teenager I devoured these western books, depicting the hero Conny Coll.
Conny Coll was quick on the draw, good with his fists (a boxing champion in fact) and travelled The West on his trusty horse, often accompanied by a timberwolf...
Conny was a loner but he couldn't stand justice and travelled in the name of The Law, tracking outlaws, fighting crime. He was part of a law enforcement group with headquarters in Prescott, Arizona. The group consisted of other remarkable persons, often with a personal and peculiar background and many of the books detailed their story with a less conspicuous role for Conny Coll. Conny was listed as no.1 in this group and as such reffered to, but also known by his nickname Trixie; no.2 was a card-playing dandy, equally fast on the draw - the nicknames and numbers were often a mark to forget about the past, a new way of life. Commander of this US Marshall group was Colonel Sinclair.
I also liked the fact that many inventions made during the period 1885 - 1910 were introduced in the story, such as the Ford automobile and Coca Cola drink. Tales of The Wild also featured in these books.

Amazingly enough I had a hard time buying the books in those days, trying to complete the series, bookshops did not seem to feature them and I was most successful in tabacco shops.
Writing these lines I found that the earliest editions (see above) had no mention of the writer, only the initials 'KC' but no name.

I could not find much on the writer, except that Conrad Kobbe was a pseudonym for K. Kölbl and he was German (like Karl May of Old Shatterhand fame).
These books were published in the early-1970s by Kerco NV (Ridderkerk, Holland) and Uitgeverij Ridderhof (Rotterdam, Holland).
Since I had no.62 I am pretty sure well over 60 editions have been published. These days one can still find them for sale on book fairs and secondhand bookshops.

[14Oct10]

VSS ENTERPRISE MADE SUCCESSFUL TESTFLIGHT | AVIATION

Photo AP

Virgin Galactic, one of the companies in the lead for developing the world’s first commercial tourist space flight business, says it has just successfully completed the first piloted free flight of SpaceShipTwo, alias the “VSS Enterprise.” The spaceship was released from its mothership at an altitude of 45,000 feet.
During its first flight this past weekend, the spaceship carried out a clean release of the spaceship from its mothership, flew free, and glided back and landed at Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Virgin is employing Burt Rutan’s successful SpaceShipOne model, winner of the Ansari X Prize for achieving suborbital flight, for its fleet of spacecraft. For $200,000 a ticket, passengers will be taken into suborbital flight — crossing the 62-mile threshold into space and achieving weightlessness for about five minutes. The spacecraft will then glide softly back to terra firma.

The fact that commercial aviation is struggling 'today' with a world-wide economic crisis and a general downturn in aviation economics, it is quite surprising to see that this doesn't seem to slow this project down.

See also this subject on Wikipedia

[12Oct2010]

LIU XIAOBO AWARDED NOBEL PRIZE | WORLD NEWS

Chinese reaction to Lia Xiaobo wining nobel prize

The reaction by the Chinese government, on Lia Xiaobo's being awarded the Nobel Peace prize, made the distance between Western democratic thinking and democratic values in China painfully clear : lightyears!

Liu Xiaobo (born 28 December 1955) is a Chinese intellectual, writer, and human rights activist and a political prisoner in China.
He has served as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained in response to his participation with Charter 08. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power." He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009, and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.
During his 4th prison term, he won the Nobel Peace Prize on 8 October 2010, for 'his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.' [Wikepedia]

[10Oct10]

VICTOR BOUT

The Bangkok Post 05Oct2010

What would be in the paperbag, I wonder?

The Criminal Court on Tuesday dismissed money-laundering and fraud charges against Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout, removing a major obstacle to his extradition to the United States.
The Appeal Court in August ordered Mr Bout be handed over to Washington to face charges of dealing with terrorists, angering Russia, but the process has been held up by technicalities over the new accusations.
The Criminal Court on Tuesday dismissed the new charges against Bout, the so-called "Merchant of Death", citing insufficient evidence. Prosecutors said they would not appeal.
But the long-running extradition battle may not be over yet because Mr Bout's defence lawyer said he plans a last-ditch legal challenge against the extradition order issued in August.
"If anyone tries to send him out, I will file an appeal," said lawyer Lak Nithiwatanawicharn after Tuesday's ruling.
Mr Bout, a 43-year-old former Soviet air force pilot, was arrested in 2008 after a sting operation in Bangkok involving undercover US agents posing as rebels from Colombia's Marxist FARC group - which has been declared a terrorist organisation by the US, but not by Thailand.
Wearing a bullet-proof vest and shackles, he was escorted to court from a high-security Bangkok prison by police commandos for a second straight day of hearings on Tuesday.
His wife Alla Bout told reporters at the court the United States was trying to use her husband "as a scapegoat to undermine Russian influence".
"The United States wants to stage a big show trial and hang on him everything that they don't know who committed anywhere in the world," she said.
My dossier on Victor Bout and his airlines
External link: Victor Bout Dot Net