Latest on Fri, 09:25 am
Distinctively Dutch
Christie’s, London, had another auction last week. This one dedicated to Dutch photographers. They were lucky that the financial and economical crises seemed not to have reached the super rich art collectors. Five thousand up to twenty thousands euro’s was not unusual. Most was paid for “the ice cream parlour” from the series “Rain” by Erwin Olaf ( over € 22.000). But Ruud van Empel (“World”), Desirée Dolron (“Xteriors”) and Celine van Balen (Muslim girls) were very much in demand also.
Why?
Life’s Unpractical Lessons.
1. How to jump the queue.
If one expects to have to stand seriously in line before you actually can get to the event, be sure to have a wheelchair and some company. Wheelchairs have priority at the entrance and can claim the best places. So, put your partner in crime in the chair and push him/her past the suckers who are obediently waiting and enter triumphantly.
(Witnessed it several times- because I am such a sucker – while queuing myself).
2. How the chair can regain control.
If the chair is in a tumultuous meeting, which is dramatically getting out of hand, he or she should know there always is this way to regain control. Don’t try to intervene, keep silent and let the chaos prevail for another five minutes. Then get up slowly, turn your back on the table and fart. Loudly.
(I happened to be present when this method was successfully applied by a renowned mayor of a large city). Read More
US Elections: intellectualism beats populism.
In this respect the US of A is still the one and only superpower: all the world is watching todays elections closely.
Barack Obama is likely to be the winner. And if this happens to be tomorrow’s result, not only the majority of the Americans but the majority of the world will be happy.
Some time ago an intermittent but excellent blogger – Dennis Matanda – wrote that Obama might stumble about one of the two worst allegations someone running for an public office may be confronted with: that of being elitist ( the other one is being racist).
Newsflash: Indonesian Parliament passes anti pornography bill
Great.
The Parliament of Indonesia did abolish pornography. Congratulations to these guards of our libido’s.
Forget about the financial and economical meltdown, about deforestation, about hunger and poverty, about healthcare and infra structure: these MP’s know their priorities. They heroically saved all Indonesians from moral and social deterioration. It’s a shining example to all the world what conservative patronizing and meddling in the name of the Lord can do.
While we, non Indonesians, are jealously watching, the grateful civilians of the archipelago are looking forward to new courageous steps by their government. These vigorous Ministers, MP’s, governors and other men and women of honour, should now abolish by law: air pollution, earthquakes, viruses and ugly fat middle aged men. And they should not forget to forbid, under the penal code, the eruption of volcano’s.
March on, brave soldiers, to a sexless society.
Three Times Two
Women rule the world. Hillary may have lost, but strong women will rule the world. Mark my words.
Strong women especially fictional strong women, like strong men, are independent, brave and militant. They don’t comply with demands and situations which obviously are incorrect, unjust or wrong. They never take a subservient, second rate position of their sex for granted. They don’t give in to threats and oppression. In stead they outwit the opponents or face these problems even if it looks like at the outset they don’t stand a chance. They differ from men in that they have to rely more on intelligence and perseverance than on physical power. In other words: Grrrrrlpower is mainly mental power. That’s, in my perception, the image movie directors seem to create of strong women.
Here are six examples I admire. Two from each of three different parts of the world.