The following video reacted on the plans for the new surveillance law in Germany (last version 2008). I think it is an interesting interpretation and worth watching.
Connected loosely to the fairy-tale “The Dryad” by Hans Christian Andersen, Lepage lets a French-Canadian writer – Frédéric – explore Paris and its Opera scene. Living in a friend’s appartment over a peep show and only having the friend’s dog as companion, Frédéric gets to know himself (and the French and Andersens’s sexuality) better than he ever thought he would. A lot of political, cultural and emotional topics get to be discussed in a very amusing manner.
Through the course of the play, Jacques impersonates writer Frédéric, his boss, the Opera director (talking English with a hilarious French accent), H. C. Andersen and Rashid, a Maroccan graffiti artist, and the Dryad.
So please, if you find the time (and affordable tickets), give yourself a treat and enjoy this amazing project. It will be shown at Volkstheater until May 13.
Video in French, Spanish (+subtitles) and English.
My Easter holidays brought me to Stockholm, which is marketed as “the capital of Scandinavia” these days. So when I arrived I was highly surprised of the city’s rather village-like character. It sure is the cosiest and calmest capital in Europe I have been to so far. Perfect for a burnt-out manager wanting to take a sabbatical… and this “capital of Scandinavia” thing can be irritating as proven below (filmed at Oslo):
10:57 Write to do list. Sharpen pencils. Tidy desk.
10:59 Browse internet. Think about stomach. Dream of muffins.
11:01 Stand by water cooler. Think about muffins.
11:05 Ignore the muffin voices.
11:06 Muffins.
11:07 Get smoothie out of fridge. Drink it.
11:15-13:15 close that deal, high five the boss, ignore Facebook for a whole 2 hours. Ah, lunchtime already.
innocent drinks, print on bottle expressing key messages in a sympathetic and simple way
For years now I wanted to have a map of the world, but I could not decide whether I should take a historic one (slightly outdated) or a political one (everchanging) or a classical one (before the poles melt). Now I found one that fulfills yet another purpose, especially for web addicts like me: it shows the web domain endings of the world!
Connected to the introduction of the map by “united domains” is a clever marketing idea: every blogger/twitterer who writes a post before March 31, gets a free map (original price 29,- Euros). Let’s see whether that works out. In case it doesn’t, I might order one here – or write a nasty post about it.
Deanna Templeton’s latest photo series titled «Your logo here» and the book by the same name show young skateboard groupies literally transcribing their body parts to idols from the scene. The skaters write names on bodies, on bras or breasts and are happily posing in front of the camera.
In spite of the subcultural characteristics, the question arises how those young women and people deal with their bodies, how they are represented in the media and voluntarily objectify themselves. Big companies such as Honda or G-Star let people wear the brand logos like tattoos on their skin as part of the self-discovery of a generation. This is a trend beyond the conventional presentation of logos on T-shirts, caps or sweat shirts.
Deanna Tempelton (born 1969) lives and works in Huntington Beach/California was part of LA’s punk rock scene in the 80s and dug herself into the skateboard scene in the 90s.
The exhibition title was picked by Templeton herself and stems from an Indie Rock band The Smiths – the complete line runs: “Scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen / This means you really love me.»
Exhibition: “Scratch My Name On Your Arm”
April 4 – May 10, 2009 NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany
Okay, before I offend anybody by posting something German-oriented yet again, let me embed a video which brings up memories from before the Tower of Bable:
As pictured above, men often do not understand women, even when they are able of using the same language. To help desperate housewives, there are a lot of women’s magazines on- and offline – most of them deal with make-up, men and kitchen stuff to provide orientation in the hand-to-hand combat zone. Miss Tilly offers a different treat – though the combat background might be the same. The authoresses are interested in politics, economics or serious society issues and provide a weekly digest of the most important events. Don’t get me wrong – there are recipes, men topics and horoscopes – but in a special Tilly-style and not at the centre of attention. Have a click – and please tell me about your favourite women’s magazines online!
Sorry, a hint for German-speaking people only or those who want to make German-speaking children happy. I just had to call your attention to the book “the jooloomooloo” (‘tschulumulu’). Written by Doron Rabinovici and illustrated by Christina Gschwantner, it is printed on – pardon my saying so, but it is the truth – elephant poo. Fairly produced in Sri Lanka, the story deals with the jooloomooloos, small beings that live in clothes, can only be seen by kids and are happy and peaceful – until they smell toxic colours. Then they get really bad-tempered and itchy. The lovely story aims at making it easier to put on clothes for children aged 3 years and older, has 16 pages and can be ordered here. And who still needs another present can get the matching ecological, fair-trade jooloomooloo-children’s wear as well.
