Caramblogage

What the hell is this? Taking the Deutsch-franzoesische freundschaft as far as possible? But i like the ride of the Valkeries. What can I say…

Last time, I wrote an entry about the changing face of the world of advertising. Recap:  Through the internet, we, for the first time have the opportunity to do thorough research into the products and companies we buy our goods from. This is leading to a much more critical consumer and a change in the marketing approach of those companies. And I promised you more. So, marketing is driven by the consumer nowadays, not by the product. How does this work? We are at freedom to express our opinions in a worldwide forum for the first time, and for the first time, the voice of the consumer has the chance to be heard. This leads to dialogue between the consuming parties, which the selling entity, be it the shop you bought it in, or the company that produced the product, can follow. A classic example of this is Apple Inc. (Formerly computers). Before the internet went truly global, with one billion users online and surfing, the companies reputation spread mostly though word- of- mouth, users...

Now, why am I calling this entry Doom 3? I was going to write a post about how scary Doom 3, which I spent the last couple of days playing, is. Rant about that for a while and boast that I was able to play it on adequate hardware. And that would have led you, the reader to complain. What this post is actually about: Yesterday, I went to an exhibition with a good friend of mine. One of the things we saw was a series of videos by an organizationI was hitherto unaware of: The Complaints Choir (title link), an international organization giving people the opportunity to voice their collective complaints through song. We were at first amused by the idea, but when we heard this, we were seriously impressed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATXV3DzKv68 (You'll have to copy and paste, apologies) That state of affair could not continue, so the video in full is below, courtesy of the above-mentioned link. Song © Helsinki CC Never have complaints rung so beautifully in my ears. I am not going to...

From all sides, we are assailed by danger: Our oceans are rising up against us, with the polar caps melting as we warm our climate up. Suddenly winters seem warmer, droughts longer and more frequent, rain, when it does fall in what is known as the temperate zone of this earth, it seems almost tropical. Soon, Berlin will have to deal with diseases like malaria, bilharzia and the like. We, through the internet, are more aware than ever of the role of industry and corporations in all of this. All of a sudden, we are also aware of the conditions most goods we use in our daily lives are manufactured in — sweat-shops. low wage labour in third-world countries, no regard for the health of workers, and no interest in what kind of long-term effect feeding this world of consumerism will have on these countries. Also on the news: the world's biggest, and seemingly most developed economy slowly slipping into recession through impossible loans and unrestrained borrowing. At the same tim...

Now that all the excitement is over I finally have time to publish my Powerbooks obituary: This is to announce the passing on of Ks's Block on the 14th of January 2008. KS Block was found at Saturn, where it was rescued from a prolonged existence as a demo machine. It was purchased in April 2004, whereafter it accompanied me through many adventures including the great Cairo Kitsch expedition, the Rescue of Neverwinter, The Roman Summer, The Madrassah File and many other twists and turns in the plot of the last four years. It did many tasks it was not designed for, such as big and heavy rendering tasks, which sometimes forced it to work and toil for days on end, film editing with HD material and bookweight. By the time of its death, it had, through my road warrior Lifestyle acquired many bumps, scratches and general patina. Symptoms of its imminent demise started showing in April 2007, when it received a new Hard drive and Battery to replace defective units. It died as it lived: Qui...

it makes you think.. over the centuries, the martyrdom of a couple of early christian saints has been turned into a festival of worldwide love when roses and chocolates are given, kisses exchanged and silly schoolboys give their crushes hand drawn cards spelling out will you be my valentine. Romance at it's best: taking something horrible and turning it, with time, into something, if not good, then at least an expression of affection. Consumerism turns this into one of those musto- be celebrated days, like christmas, where you have to buy the beloved, the object of your desires, favourite courtesan or whatever does it for you, some trinket, some gift to prove to them that you haven't forgotten about that one special person that advertising tells you deserves it. Comes in handy in that spending slump between christmas and easter, too. At least that way, people spend their cash on useful things like flowers (pretties up the house( perfumes (olfactory delights for all!), ipods (ke...

Another blast: I googled myself and found the above link. Amazing, what the internet conserves for us!

an article I wrote so many years ago (2002) for the Snark (title link) a magazine by the English Lit and Philology institute I used to study at. I can explain... PrOmpt! - formerly known as the FU Institut für Englische Philologie Drama Group By Caram Kapp Think of theatre: Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe, Pinter, maybe some Ionesco. Think of actors: those glamourous beings on stage, performing the works of the abovementioned with such skill and cunning that sometimes you think that the middle ages got it right; players are the devils pawns. Dream of yourself, standing where the chap with the felt hat and the rapier is standing now. It won’t happen anytime soon, will it? He has, after all worked his way through the ranks of theatre, from waterboy to fool, from fool to understudy from understudy to a five- line, from the five- line to lead until finally, he became the star he is, performing in front of you in life size. There is another way, slightly less glamorous, to end up on a stage: A...

this is just very, very wierd? or is it? it might be...

So, dear Blog, I finally passed my preliminaries. After two harrowing weeks of hard word, refining and improving and polishing my presentation, devising, designing and evolving my documentation and generally mucking around, I passed.  It was a nice presentation, even if I do say so myself.  The whole thing had been prepared in keynote, the authored through idvd – thats what I love apple for, the simplicity of it – on this nice new machine I have standing down here. What would have taken me weeks and months to prepare and render just a few weeks ago took mere hours or minutes to prepare on the new sytem. Very very nice!  The room was prepared like a movie theatre, with my slides presented towards the front, the examiners viewing it from their chairs. It was nice and intimate, with Mazzy Star singing Mary of Silence. Great song.  I started on book, but quickly realized that i didn't need the script. And then I presented the damn thing and we talked a bit about what I wanted to do wi...

This link will take you to the faces of stars before and after.... the eighties. I don't know what to say about this, except that it reflects beautifully how times change. In the Eighties everyone had huge mops of hair and dressed in bright colors, looked kinda quirky and wierd. The Nineties made everyone go straight and corporate and glamourous.  I know this has probably been mentioned and disseminated millions of times before this one, but this falls under "Get it over with then go on."

Are you absolutely sure you wanna see this? Completely and indubitably sure? So sure you're going to click in the Right button? So extremely confident that you are willing to view the mature content that you might just click on the button? Sure thing.

A forward by Ranja: The Sea, by Junior School Children 1) This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly, age 6). 2) Oysters' balls are called pearls. (James age 6). 3) If you are surrounded by sea you are an Island. If you don't have sea all round you, you are incontinent. (Wayne, age 7). 4) Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She's not my friend no more. (Kylie, age 6). 5) A dolphin breaths through an arsehole on the top of its head. (Billy, aged 8). 6) My uncle goes out in his boat with pots, and comes back with crabs.(Millie, age 6). 7) When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes, when the wind didn't blow, the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would be better off eating beans. (William, age 7). 8) I like mermaids. They are beautiful, and I like their shiny tails. How do mermaids get pregnant? (Helen, age 6). 9) I'm not going to write a...

Hello People, today, we have a preview of my upcoming preliminaries, in the form of the documentation, which I like to call the blue book... Uploaded in all its glory, including the false colours induced by my bad home lighting.... and photography without a flash. It will also contain a CD and a tiny little booklet I like to call... Ragueneau. How will have to remain my secret. Enjoi and opine!