Personal · 27 July 2010 ·
That old English-Turkish exercise book I found on the street...
…has a translation of the Daisy-song into Turkish:
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do.
I’m half crazy for the love of you.
It won’t be a stylish marriage,
I can’t afford a carriage.
But you’ll look sweet-upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two.
According to the wee book, this is translated into:
Papatya, Papatya, bana cevabini ver,
Senin askindan yari cilgina döndüm.
Modaya uygun bir dügün olmayacak.
Araba tutacak param yok.
Fakat sen cok tatli olacaksin
Iki kisilik bisikletin üstünde.
It was printed in 1962, 6 years before 2001:Space Odyssey.
Music Personal · 17 July 2010 ·
Subcity - Laser Party 2010
Subcity LASER Party (2010) from Subcity Radio on Vimeo.
Subcity Radio, Glasgow University’s student radio station, doesn’t just do radio. We also do events, like this one here, at the Art School. Thanks Joe for this wee video.
Video: Joe Crogan
Music: Koopa Boss Mode – Laser Sword
Date: 13 June 2010
Location: Art School, Glasgow
Personal Music · 8 July 2010 ·
Console
I’m in love with Console. Apparently he (or rather, they) will be releasing a new album in Autumn. It’s definitely something to look forward to.
It took me a while until I got into him, through my other big love, the Notwist. I had the chance of seeing him on the 2003 Immergut Festival, but I passed it. I was too young. My musical horizon was too limited, and frankly I just didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t love at first sight, I was distracted by my first love, a different kind of love. But just with Portishead, or even Radiohead, it was love at second sight that proved to be long lasting and fulfilling. Console’s Magnolia is one of these songs that just stuck. It provides a closeness that’s only found in a few songs.
On the other hand “Suck and Run” provided the necessary distance to get over those relationships that did not last:
Also, through Console and his various alter egos like Acid Pauli and the For God Con Soul posse, I keep on stumbling upon plenty of other music that I wouldn’t have heard of otherwise, or, in other instances, would have remained inaccessible to me. Thus, I never really got into Philipp Boa and Pia Lund. Yet in a DJ Set by Console member FC Shuttle, I stumbled upon this rather fun song: Pia Lund – Der Himmel, a hypnotising tale about the prospect of love.
Personal · 22 June 2010 ·
The Sun is, as a matter of fact, green
My Sun frame is back from the powder coaters in a lovely British Racing Green. I will get some white paint and do the appliances over the weekend. After that, the folks from Common Wheel are going to take over again and do their mastery, to bring this old frame back to glory.
Personal Tech-stuff · 20 June 2010 ·
The Sun is rising...
Since my bike got stolen over Easter, I need a new one. I decided to go back to the Common Wheel Project, a Glasgow-based charity that employs people with mental illness to build and repair bikes. It’s a brilliant project and they do a very good job at building bikes, too. Plus, they are a bit geeky.
A suitable frame was quickly found, it’s an old Sun frame, made in Birmingham. It required a little bit attention, a few holes had to be welded and it’s currently at ESP powder coaters for a new painting. The bike will be build up as a touring/commuting bike. It will probably feature a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub, drop bars, mud guards and a pannier rack, so that I can go onto the odd ride into the Scottish countryside. Also, the gears will ease the way up at Gilmorehill. Clearly the founders of my beloved university weren’t cyclists themselves…
Either way, here are a few pictures of the frame before and after the welding:
Music Personal · 25 March 2010 ·
A Request.
Things have been a bit strange recently, and I need a soundtrack for that. My library is full of melancholic music, not because I’m such a sad person, but it’s just what I generally listen to. But right now, I do need a break. A few weeks ago I had the sudden desire to listen to classical music, from Orf and Bach to Penderecki and Rautavaara.
But now I hunger for something completely different. I feel restless. I can’t live without my daily dose of melancholic music, but at the same time I need something that’s still got a drive. Something that makes me get up and do things. Something like Electric President and Radical Face:
At the very moment I’m listening to a lot of Calexico’s stuff:
Through @Milktime I came across Bullets by Tunng and this is now rotation:
Also, The High Road by the Broken Bells is quite high up in my playlist:
So, if you have any music that would go nicely with the afore mentioned songs, that would be highly appreciated.
Personal · 3 July 2009 ·
Citizen Insane
About three or four years ago, a new trend started. People started using headsets for mobile phones. At first these headsets were rather bulky, and only a few people used them. Most of them were business men, walking down the streets, looking busy and important in their tight black suits and with their hasty movements. Then, about a year later a new kind of people started using these devices: The self-made businessmen, with less tight suits, but even hastier movements.
But recently, whilst walking down the streets in Berlin I noticed a rather ordinary-looking girl talking to herself. Well, not really herself, that’s only what it looked like. Rather, she seemed to be talking to her boyfriend. But apart from the cable running down to her pocket, there was no indication that she wasn’t talking to herself. A couple of years ago, anyone talking to themselves would be considered to be slightly mad at least, but today you can’t be sure whether they are actually just taking a phone call.
I, for my part, am rather head-set-phobic, I have to admit. I don’t know why but i would feel slightly discomforted if there is nothing to hold onto when I’m on the phone. Maybe I would hold up my arm, pressing my hand against the earpiece, supposedly blocking out traffic noise. But actually I just want everyone to know “Hey, I’m not speaking to myself, I’m on the phone!”
Maybe I’m getting old. Or maybe it’s just me who’s the nutter.
I want to conclude with a wee joke:
Man: “Doctor, doctor, I’m hearing voices but I can’t see anyone!”
Doctor: “When does that happen?”
Man: “Whenever I’m on the phone!”
Personal · 25 May 2009 ·
Don't Panic!
It’s World Towel Day:
Personal · 28 April 2009 ·
Bad Taste
Whoever is responsible for this (apparently it’s Louis E. Caldera), it is not funny.
Politics Personal · 12 January 2009 ·
All hope's not lost...
…yet. But there isn’t much left.
2008 has passed. A year that saw the abuse of anti-terror laws. With regard to that I want to refer to Anne Roth’s talk at the 25C3 last year, which is also available as video. New laws were introduced, in Germany we got the telecommunication interception and data retention law and our beloved secretary of the interior also got his Christmas present—extended rights for the federal prosecution service (BKA), including the right to spy out use remote forensic software to spy out computer hard drives without the knowledge of the suspect. Initially I hoped the Social Democrats hadn’t lost their mind, but I was mistaken. The arbitration commission worked out a few minor ammandments, most noteworthy the requirement of a judicial decree in order to carry out a remote forensic search. However, judges already lack time to work through applications for house searches, according to the 25C3 talk by Constanze Kurz and Ulf Buermeyer: They have about 20 minutes to consider each case.
On the other hand, according to the German IT newspaper C’T, the Swedish interception laws have been drastically down-sized and partially its effects have been reversed, with civil liberties now being strengthened. I have to add that the Scandinavian countries always amaze me. Whilst being far from perfect, they still seem to be politically much more sensible than their southern neighbours.
But then, this faint hope is torn apart by new plans in the UK: The plans for the new Interception Modernisation Programme become more and more disturbing: Albeit only retaining information on who called or emailed whom and when, this information can reveal a lot about a person. Bringing on the example of Andrej Holm again, who was accused of being a member of a suspected “terrorist organization” (the whole construct is hideous, a military car was set on fire. That might be bad, but doesn’t make a terrorist organization). One of the reasons he was drawn into the case was that he knew people who were suspected to be involved in the incident. This means that simply knowing someone who is suspected to be involved in some sort of terrorist activity could make you one of the suspects. Terrorist activity as become a very broad term, apparently including the destruction of GM crops. The threat of such false connections is beatifully illustrated by The Sainsbury’s Lesson, where Sainsbury’s used their Nectar Card to data mine and profile their customers. The data was then used to send promotions to customers, based on their buying habits. If your buying habits would o with a pregnant couple, you might get lucky enough and they would sent you baby clothes. Uuups, wrong connection. Thus the false positive rate is potentially dangerous and due to humans being humans, will remain high. And I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if this information gets into the wrong hands.
Apart from that there are more great things about the Interception Modernisation Programme. The estimated costs are £ 12bn and a private companies will be assigned to collect and process the data, according to The Register.
It is specifically this what drives me nuts: It’s not just that we are fighting shadows, no, because of that we’re loosing balance. Unlike in Sweden, there are no attempts to strengthen civil liberties. There are only calls to “remove obstacles”. But often these “obstacles” are barriers that protect civil liberties and privacy. Are we willing to pay that price? Shouldn’t we at least say, that if it is necessary to take a right away, that we gain a new one? What about a wee bit of bargaining? Are we that cheap? Is this the day of the big sell out?
All this has left me in a state of despair. I tell myself, hey, it can’t be as bad as you think. Time will pass, and just like the UK survived the IRA terror and Germany the RAF’s, this phase of international terrorism will pass, and with it all these exaggerated security measures. But then, will we ever make any progress? Is one enemy replaced by another one, just as an excuse to justify extremist policies. In the beginning I used to belittle the international terrorism scare. I am far from denying that there is a threat. But I want policies that work. I want to tackle the roots of the evil, and I don’t want to pay with our freedom and get a placebo, like CCTV surveillance, which is “A total fiasco”, according to Scotland Yard. In a book on psycho-therapy, Paul Watzlawick gives the example of a man who sits on a bench and constantly claps his hands. He is asked why and answers that he does it to chase away elephants, as you can clearly see there are no elephants around, therefore he is very successful in what he is doing. I see Mr Schäuble clapping his hands against terrorism, too. Though… he’s not clapping his hands, he’s playing with the fundamentals of the German constitution. I don’t feel like digging out Radio Yerevan Jokes yet, but I do not see much that would make it stop. Yes, our federal court seems like our slow but mighty protector. But theoretically it’s time for a political change. But it seems that change is slower than a federal court. In Germany, the Christian Democrats are currently the leading party and I fear the Free Democrats—their likely coalition partner—will loose their regained conscience as soon as they are part of the government. The Pirate Party is still negligible.
The same story in Britain: Nu Labour has increasingly become like the Tories under Thatcher. I remember Labour volunteers distributing badges saying “I still hate Thatcher”. Well, Ms Thatcher seems to be back in Office. The recent policies seem to be her reincarnation. And what’s the alternative? The Tories?! Let me get this straight: We should turn to the Tories to save us?! There is a fundamental flaw there! And I see no hope of it getting resolved, unless the LibDems can get hold of power. But until that happens… hell froze over.
Politics is no fun. I should focus on Psychology in my studies, and drop Politics, because there is at least some form of progress in Science. I don’t see that much of it in politics. All this can be summed up in a snippet from a conversation with one of my flatmates, albeit being about something else:
She: “Is it that bad?”
Me: “Nae, it’s much worse!”
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