2004-08-24

Paris Liberation 60year celebration

Tomorrow, big festivities to celebrate the surrender of the German occupier.
American and French armored brigades will parade around the city. Will try to get some pix up.

New U2 Album: November 2004

U2 album n°11 is to be published this fall, with a first single hitting the air waves on Sept. 23 "Vertigo".*

2004-08-23

JachtInfo - portaal voor jacht, visserij en wildbeheer

Dé ingang voor alles wat met Jacht en natuurbeheer te maken heeft in Vlaanderen, de Koninklijke Sint-HubertusClub van België, HUBERTUSVERENIGING VLAANDEREN v.z.w.- DE VLAAMSE JAGER

Middenvakrijders veroorzaken files

Iedere weggebruiker zal zich wel al aan hen geërgerd hebben: de bestuurders die hardnekkig en aan een gezapige snelheid op het middenste rijvak blijven rijden, ook al is er rechts plaats zat. Volgens een onderzoek van de Britse automobilistenvereniging RAC veroorzaken die middenvakrijders veel files. Het bericht stond in The Sunday Times en The Observer. De RAC concludeert dat die middenvakkers de andere bestuurders dwingen om plots te remmen en zowel links als rechts in te halen. De zogenaamde spookfiles, die aan geen enkele aanwijsbare reden zoals een ongeval of een defecte wagen kunnen worden toegeschreven, zouden aan hen te wijten zijn. Binnenkort komen er waarschuwingsborden langs de Britse wegen om deze kwaal tegen te gaan.

> uit De Standaard


Reading: My Dog Skip - Willie Morris
Listening to: Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Last Movie: Goodbye Lenin - about a boy who tries to keep his mother ignorant about the re-unification of Germany. She suffered a stroke on the evening of the downfall of the Berlin Wall and spent 8 months in a coma. The boy and his family try to stage as many events as possible, convincing her ultimately of the survival of the DDR as a haven for WDR refugees. Very touching, very nice photography. Best scene: a staged "influx" of West-germans in East Berlin, who run away from materialsim... commented by a crazed East-germand reporter! Best line: "Inevitable as a Russian tank"
Thinking: about an interview on France Culture friday night. According to the interviewee the world today is sick: His (quite Nietzchean) diagnosis:
  • the victory of materlialism, and materialistic ideology, with the loss of artisans, lack appreciation for the beautiful handmade object (ikea-ism, conrad-ism...), langage degradation, loss of respect for one another (nobody says hello anymore) loss of respect for "l'altérité de l'autre" (Levinas), loss of ecology (nobody knows his/her place in the ambient, environment, hierarchy of nature: more often than not, the only criterium is instant consumerism and techno-mystification of reality turning man into
  • this leads to nihilism, and the new integrists, and the creation of the new gods
  • solution: enthousiastic individualism. Reminds me of "een filosofie van het enthousiasme". Profound expression of one's individualism, by refusing to be Kant-categorized ... leads to World Peace and a Greater Understanding...
  • our appreciation: !


Travelling: Brussels - Paris - Singapour - Jakarta this week; then reverse order but adding Knokke
Last picture: Bruegel clouds in a Bruegel landscape and this post on WorldPeaceRadio

2004-08-20

Back-country Safety: a brief primer


10 RULES OF THUMB
you shouldn't forget while travelling in back-country
1.Minimum-impact attitude: haul out your trash and leave your camp-site the way you found it or better. Arrange something nice for the next visitor (pile of dry "DEAD" wood,...)
2.Informsomeone of your plans. Pre-fix and Execute a telephone-date to make that "all is safe"-call.
3.Awareness. - Prepare yourself for an overwhelming experience. Be attentive to wildlife (never feed nor touch it), respect all fauna and flora, never destroy habitats. Take care of eachother and of yourself (e.g. check for frostbite, dehydration, sunburns, fever, hypothermia or ticks).Report incidents to the authorities (e.g. bear-attacks, forest-fires). Participate in surveys.Respect other/fellow travellers and their need for privacy but be prepared to help them out: show 'em the way to do it if they ask for it, point out interesting things (cliffs, rapids, bear activity, buenas vistas).Always minimize the risks involved in certain activities (don't chop down big trees or dive from high cliffs. Be carefull swinging those axes).Avoid getting lost (if you do, don't panic): if travelling in group, others will notice your absence and come looking for you; if travelling alone, mark the direction you've taken and preferably travel downstream- you'll (eventually)end up in the civilized world.
4.Bring along a positive attitudesense of humour and group-enhancing capabilities. TALK to eachother.
5.SHARP- Everybody should at all times carry a safely-stored and razor-sharp knive (or Tool/ SwissArmy, Leatherman) and fire-making gear (filled Zippo, light-anywhere matches, lighters will do the job). A whistle comes in handy if you lose sight of each other. Be carefull with the water you drink (boil if necessary, carry purification ustencils).
6.WATER - When travelling over water, make sure there are enough Life-vests available. According to the last regulations, every "boat" should also be outfitted with a lenghty rope and a flashlight.
7.MAPS & TRUE NORTH - Bring acurate and UPDATED maps. Make sure you and every one else in your group knows how to read them. A compass (and the skill to use it)is necessary. Make sure you know the deviation of TRUE NORTH.
8.Emergency/ Hazards/ Peligro - Emergency first aid kit. Also provide some basic pain-relievers. Prior to departure, make sure everybody is in fit-to-work condition and check all medical histories (carry the necessary ant-dotum to allergies...). IF someone catches a severe and unstoppable cold: abort your trip, it might develop in something worse. Make sure you know the kinds of hazardous plants/animals you may/will encounter (poison ivy, snakes, killer bees, lunatic bears, runaway axe-murderers, hysteria generalizada, fata morgana) and make sure you know how to deal with them.
9.Clothing/Equipment - Make sure you bring the right clothing, food (water if necessary) and equipment for the right environnement.. Summer storms in the moutains may evolve into snow blizzards. It may freeze for several days in the midst of summer (It happened to me!). General knowledge of available weather-reports and prevailing winds are essential. Always bring rain-gear of the highest quality. Make sure that at all times 1 set of dry clothes is stowed in a waterproof bag.
10.That finishing touch - Remember that equipment is vital: but only if brought in pristine working-condition and with the knowledge to use it. (A mobile phone often doesn't work out in the woods, batteries dry out, tents are only water-sealed if cared for with the right maintenance...). Therefore: bring plenty of DUCT-TAPE. There is almost nothing that can't be fixed by it.Also take some spices with you. The generally accepted idea is that pasta-like foods RULE (they weigh the least and will provide enough without taking up too much of your space and time. Spicing it up will make everything a lot easier to swallow.A nice camera (waterproof), a deck of cards and 1or 2 books will keep everybody happy.
Last but not least: keep a trip-log of all your activities, movements, encounters, shedded tears and laughters. And distribute it afterwards to all of your expedition members.A thing of beauty....
Postscript & disclaimer: wacondah declines all responsibility for damage, injuries, death, harm, fun, .... that may or may not rtesult from the correct or incorrect implementation of this advice...

Loesje BE

internationaal creatief collectief....

Sebbe Godefroid - Finn yachtman

Sebbe is rapidly loosing his outlook on a top3 score. Too bad, but hey, he can still prepare 2008...

More sailing links

http://www.clubracer.be/

2004-08-19

Mark Eyskens

snel een bezoekje gedacht aan een duizendpoot, Mark Eyskens, Minister van Staat, politicus emeritus, professor, filosoof, vrijdenker, vrijbuiter en begaafd tot soms geniaal causeur. De moeite van het bezoeken waard, zo zijn zijn "zolder" schilderijen best grappig!

En hij verdient een pluim omdat hij er zo weinig "gezever" op zet... dit in schril contrast met de grote massa politikasters onder ons, cf. bijvoorbeeld http://www.freyaweb.be

2004-08-18

Canoeing in Belgium !

yeah, some enthousiastic dudes spreading the love for canoeing!
Bill Mason has followers

Famous Belgians - An incomplete List

Ever wonder who was the inventor of the stroboscope? Right... J.Plateau...
And who discovered the Big Bang Theory? Right: G.Lemaître....
Not to forget Vesalius, Ortelius, Merckx, Urbanus, Sax, Hergé, Horta, de Gerlache, Egmont, de Ghelderode, Yourcenar, Simenon, Huysmans, Maeterlinck, Brel, Halliday & co...

But you wonder why Lynn Wesenbeek or Jan Theys are on this list....

Did you know Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels?

The Future is now: predictions for the coming 25 years

Ever wonder what the future will look like? Feel like or how we'll all be hardwired?
check out the +25 predictions for the coming 30 years...
For 2005: our favourite...

After cancelling the elections in 2004, because of very unlikely but possible terrorist atacks, George W. Bush sends troops into Syra, the USA bomb Damascus for a week and promise to bring freedom, peace and democracy soon. Meanwhile, the war in IRAQ goes on. Isreal still does not pull out of Gaza and threatens IRAN with their A-Bombs. 200.000 People die in Sudan because of famine.The EU finally decides to invite Turky to become a member, which starts riots in many contries. The EU parlament objects the decision but the commission does not care as usual. At the end of 2005 the first elections are won with the promise not to let Turky into the EU. Right wing parties in France, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Sweden, etc. gain more the 10%.Tony "the poodle" Blair still is re-elected, but assasinated by radical muslims.

2004-08-17

Tuinen van Free

Meer in het Siciliaans maffia clan gevoel: een beek(je) reclame kan nooit geen kwaad...

En zoals het een koele bootsman betaamt, een gast met wie ge hoge golven kunt temmen, ook al is er geen wind en drijgt de zandbankbranding u mee te sleuren: een ondernemer uit Vlaanderen

en moest het nu nog nen echte pajottenlander zijn, 't ware perfect

2004-08-16

KOBE PROESMANS, percussion from Belgium

Zoals het past in de siciliaanse maffia style: een familielid: Kobe Proesmans,
en 't is nog ne Pajottenlander ook!

Rock (allez Salsa!) on Kobe...

2004-08-12

More -unexplained - .info: Tunguska

http://www.unexplained.info/directory/aliens_and_ufos/tunguska

http://www.bvalphaserver.com/article9619.html

We Are not Alone? Alien Spacecraft Derbis discovered in Tunguska

This strange article appeared in De Standaard today at 1503 on authority of AFP and INTERFAX: scientists seem to have recovered an alien artefact from the 1908 Mystery Explosion in the Siberian Tundra.... (longtime thought to have been a meteore impact)

http://www.s-d-g.freeserve.co.uk/tunguska.html

to be continued ... of course


Russische vorsers ontdekken resten buitenaards ruimteschip
15:03:24
MOSKOU - Russische wetenschappers zeggen in het Siberische Toengoeska brokstukken van een buitenaards ruimteschip te hebben gevonden, zo heeft het Franse persbureau AFP onder aanhaling van het onafhankelijke Russische persbureau Interfax gemeld. Het tuig zou in 1908 op die plaats zijn neergestort.
In Toengoeska vond op 30 juni 1908 een grote ramp plaats, die één van de grootste wetenschappelijke mysteries van de twintigste eeuw werd. Er zou een enorme steenklomp zijn ingeslagen op enkele kilometers van de gelijknamige rivier. Dit veroorzaakte een schokgolf, honderden kilometers in het rond. Tweeduizend vierkante kilometer Siberisch woud werd vernietigd.
Maar zekerheid over wat er precies is ingeslagen, bleef een mysterie.
Wetenschappers van het (publieke) Fonds voor het Ruimtefenomeen Toengoeska zeggen op de site nu de resten van een buitenaards ruimteschip te hebben gevonden, alsmede een steen van vijftig kilo die zij voor analyse naar de stad Krasjonarsk hebben gestuurd.
Het Franse persbureau AFP spreekt van een ,,vaisseau extra-terrestre", ruimteschip dus. Het Engelstalige Interfax gewaagt van ,,alien technical device". Het Britse internetpersbureau Ananova heeft het, onder aanhaling van Interfax, over een ,,alien craft".

Inside Al-Qaeda's Hard Drive

Al-Qaeda's hard drive discovered and analyzed...
... and other tips for the travelling terrorist

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200409/cullison

Too bad you need a subscription...

If you look up "Tips for the travelling terrorist" on Google, the only thing you end up with are the so-called critical-infrastructure programmes by foreign governments.

Somebody should have put the following tips up a long time ago...

e.g.

- shave the beard
- don't wear those outrageous robes
- stash the explosive belt


A lot more interesting is typing in "terrorist tactics"...
check out some links

Jihad & the 4the Generation Warfare doctrine

Al-Qa'ida's Combat Doctrine

"No one can make you feel terrorized without your consent" - Eleanore Roosevelt
Yeah, right!

The proverbial taxi driver' takes a potshot at explaining WW III

A View from the Eye of the Storm:


The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 millions, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion.
They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe.
These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgium and equal to half of the GDP of California alone.
Within this meager GDP, the gaps between rich and poor are beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers.
The social status of women is far below what it was in the Western World 150 years ago.
Human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the grotesque fact that Libya was elected Chair of the UN Human Rights commission.
According to a report prepared by a committee of Arab intellectuals and published under the auspices of the U.N., the number of books translated by the entire Arab world is much smaller than what little Greece alone translates.

2004-08-11

New M.Mann Film "Collateral"

Heard it thru the grapevine, even better than HEAT?
This time, Tom Cruise replaces Pacino and de Niro: expecations are high - yet it seems difficult that they'll be played off the screen by Cruise...

Reading ... Listening

"The curious incident of the dog in the night" - Mark Haddon - buy it

Notice: "The Da Vinci code" before everybody else has told you the plot

Listening to the latest cd's by

  • Cragi Armstrong - Piano interpretations of his film scores
  • The Thievery Corporation

24 Rhesus Monkeys escape from bioresearch facility

No, this is not the movie 28 Days Later


2004-08-10

Follow-up on 9/11: National "ready" Month

Coming to you in theaters and streets nearby: Terrorists strike the USA, topple the existing systems and force a shadow governement to go underground: are you ready? are you afraid yet?

2004-08-04

9/11 damage report

A report to Congress by the Government Accountability Office in February 2003 provided a powerful account of the magnitude of the 9/11 attacks' effect on the U.S. financial system and the "heroic" response of industry leaders. Total damage: An estimated $40 billion.

That's a lot of monney...

Now, isn't that more important to ponder than who screwed up when and how and why? And shed some light on how we can take good steps to prevent this shit from happening again. Loss of lives is worse than all the monney in the world

IS the world ready for the next wave? cf. all the reports in the media this week (based on 1 year-olde info/disinfo... coincidentally after the Demo-convention. In the intelligence business: 1 year old info/disinfo amounts to trying to predict incoming ballistic missiles, by examining the Rosetta stone under a microscope...

Is the never-ending yellow-orange-red ratrace turning us into scared mice (in Dutch consumensen)?



Workplace vocabulary

SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.

XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE Thef ine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it work again.

ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organisational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the "adminisphere" are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve This is often affiliated with the dreaded "administrivia" needless paperwork and processes.

OHNOSECOND That minuscule fraction of time in which you realise that you've just made a BIG mistake (e.g. you've hit 'reply all')

BLAMESTORMING. Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

ASSMOSIS. The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.

PRAIRIE DOGGING When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm (office filled with cubicles), and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on. (This also applies to applause from a promotion because there may be cake.)

MOUSE POTATO The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato

SITCOMs Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage - What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a "home business".

STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

(thanks Q)

F*cking Peter Gordon

Another smart spam scammer tried to contact me today,
the fight against spam continues, and so we'll post some juicy details to this mofo... See hows he reacts.

Spam him back on pagordon2002@libero.it
Extracts: "sooo tired of these same old frases, who falls for this nowadays?"

I need your strong assurance that you will never let usdown, me and a key
bank official who is deeply involved with me in this business. I guarantee that
this transactionwill be executed under a legitimatearrangement that will protect
you from any breach of thelaw. I will destroy all documents of
transactionimmediately we receive this money leaving no trace to anyplace.


Read an article in Wired on the weakness of the internet/communications networks & infrastructure. Freightened by the rogue states' intention to wage "asymetrical warfare" on us?
the answer is: we should start to bring some of these spammers to justice. And please note that your grandmother and her computer can do a lot more damage... by not securing their systems....
Estimates:
20% of online users has been scammed, average loss amounts to 1.000€.