If you elect a woman as President, she will turn the Presidential palace into a kitschy Cinderella castle.
(photographed in Vilnius, Lithuania on 7 December 2012)
My first attempt at travel poetry:
I went to the bazaar in Kandahar and bought a cigar from a guy called Bashar.
Don’t worry. I will continue to write predominantly in prose.
(Zur deutschen Version.)
Mass hysteria:
Mas hysteria:
Nobody outside of Catalonia will understand this joke. :-(
When Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued an edict according to which the judiciary would henceforth no longer be able to review the government’s actions, the judges – understandably – wanted to protest against this far-reaching usurpation of executive powers.
“These judges are making it really easy for me.”
What sophisticated method of protest did the learned judges devise? Exactly: the judges went on strike.
Dear judges of Egypt: When the head of the executive branch tries to sideline the judiciary, it really won’t impress him much if the judges will stop working. That’s exactly what he wanted! You should work, review and rule more, not less.
Actually this article attempts to warn you about the 5 things not to do when you should rather engage in any time-consuming and complicated activity, especially when the deadline is close. I use the situation of having to write an academic paper or essay or assignment because that’s the example with which I have gained the most personal experience. Of course, the rules apply equally for work or business assignments, for building a tree house for your children or for preparing a funeral speech.
In order to competently write about these distractions, I have sacrificed myself and can warn you about each of them based on personal experience.
It’s 2012 and time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films which began with Dr. No in 1962. For that reason alone you should watch all James Bond films in chronological order before venturing to watch the latest one, Skyfall. Yes, even if you have already seen (some of) them. I not only give this advice because you would otherwise miss out on the greatest cultural legacy of the Cold War, but because preparing yourself in this way will greatly increase your understanding of Skyfall.
For James Bond fans, Skyfall is like a summary of many of the previous films. While this may have been a cute idea for the year of the anniversary, it goes a bit too far with one reminiscence after the other. Perhaps the scriptwriters inserted all the innuendos to films of the past to gloss over the fact that the storyline is not too compelling. It is about a former agent of MI6 who wants to take revenge. (Yes, that’s the whole story.) This addresses one weakness which the producers of future James Bond films will have to deal with: in the absence of further books by Ian Fleming as a model for the movie script, they will have to come up with something better (and I’ll be happy to help with some stories about my own adventures). It is no coincidence that the last really fantastic James Bond film, Casino Royale, was based on Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel.
Some people say that James Bond films are about the action and the girls. To me, their (the films’ not the girls’) primary appeal was always in the exotic locations. Skyfall starts off in Istanbul and then extends to China, London and Scotland for the finale in which James Bond will turn into McGyver.
The initial rooftop chase above the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul reminded me very much of the chase over Siena’s rooftops in Quantum of Solace as well as the motorcycle chase in Saigon in Tomorrow Never Dies. It is even disturbingly similar to the rooftop chase in – yes, also Istanbul – in Taken 2, coincidentally in movie theaters at the same time. James Bond also continues to express his soft spot for large, yellow construction equipment, as he did in the opening scene of Casino Royale. The fight on top of the moving train? We have seen that in Octopussy.
I will stop listing all the previous films that certain scenes reminded me of (and I am sure I would detect more upon watching the film again), but you are getting the point. It’s an overkill of nostalgia.
One of the most impressive locations is the abandoned island. It was so abandoned that it reminded me of some cities on Malta after sunset. It actually looked similar too. It is on this abandoned island that the villain steps up. Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem (the scary guy from No Country for Old Men), is the real star of the film to me. He is frightening, he is crazy, he is smart, he is ruthless, but he has some funny moments too. (Was somebody trying to copy Christopher Waltz in Inglourious Basterds here?) It’s a strong performance which does much to make the film worthwhile. Still, I find it odd that a former British spy speaks English with a heavy Spanish accent. And I do not approve of the use of stereotypes about gays in the scene when he first meets the captured James Bond.
The second part of the film takes part in the UK, in London and in Scotland. Was the latter location included to remind Scots before the 2014 referendum on independence that they are as British as James Bond is Scottish?
I generally think that too many films are being shot in London (the same is true for New York), but the Whitehall and Westminster scenes in Skyfall are actually quite good. The scenery in Scotland is stunning.
In many ways, Skyfall is a caesura. Judi Dench gets replaced as M by Ralph Fiennes (a fantastic actor ever since Schindler’s List) who introduces himself very well. There is a new Q, who in line with the nostalgia of the film reintroduces the Walther PPK[S] versus the Walther P99 used since Tomorrow Never Dies (a choice I would not make, having used both types of guns). The Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger will make its appearance, with the original Bond theme in the background, but will finally get scrapped. There is even a new Ms Moneypenny, but I could not warm to the character played by Naomie Harries at all, so I hope she gets blown up soon (as a character or in real, I don’t care). Yes, I found her that annoying, probably the most annoying person in all of the James Bond films so far.
In the first part of the film, M is seen writing an obituary for James Bond after his perceived demise, before the film turns into a slow obituary for M herself. With an all-
around new crew, the question remains: will Daniel Craig play the next James Bond? My guess is yes, because as a producer I wouldn’t want to shoot the next film with a completely new team. Also, Daniel Craig has given a solid performance, even though he will soon have played in more James Bond films than the number of different facial expressions used by him in these films. If somebody is thinking of replacing Daniel Craig, my #1 recommendation is still Eric Bana by the way.
So is the film worth watching? If you are a James Bond fan, yes. If you are looking for a good thriller, you will want to check out Argo instead.
The TV series “Homeland” recently aired an episode which depicted a street in Beirut, Lebanon as somewhat dangerous territory with Hezbollah guys brandishing AK-47s. Of course it was not really filmed in Beirut.
Instead of ordering a pizza and enjoying a TV show for what it is, Lebanon’s Tourism Minister Fady Abboud threatened to sue the American producers of the show for causing damage to the image of Lebanon. “Beirut is one of the most secure capitals in the world, more secure than London or New York,” he went on to say in an interview which was published on 17 October 2012.
Only two days later, on 19 October 2012, a massive car bomb detonated in Beirut and killed 8 people.
I guess the threatened lawsuit is off the table.
(I have only been to Beirut myself once and it does look a bit unusual to European eyes with all the guns and tanks, but one quickly gets used to it. I never felt unsafe during my mission holiday there.)
= = =
Israel and Hamas have agreed on a ceasefire (which will probably last until Hamas will have replenished its stock of missiles).
The people in Gaza celebrated it how? Exactly: with celebratory gunfire.
It is sad that the people who celebrate a ceasefire by discharging weapons probably don’t even notice the irony that lies in that. It is even more sad that in another ironic twist, one man was killed and three were injured by the “celebratory” gunfire.
= = =
The Salafists in Egypt want to impose the strictest possible laws against personal freedom, tolerance, culture, alcohol, TV, any kinds of literature not pre-approved by them and of course against any form of sex outside of marriage.
A Salafist member of parliament, Ali Wanis, was caught in his car while performing an “indecent act” with a 19-year old girl. He has now been convicted to 4 months in prison by the Appeals Court.
“Preach one thing, practice another,” the motto of religious people – not only in Egypt.
“No, this is NOT my wife.”
General David Petraeus has admitted to an extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell, an Army reservist who travelled with General Petraeus in Afghanistan when she was writing a book about the general. An FBI investigation had been launched after Mrs Broadwell was suspected of having gained access to the e-mail account of General Petraeus who had by then become Director of the CIA.
General John Allen, the commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, has been caught up in the scandal. The FBI are looking into 20,000 to 30,000 pages of “inappropriate e-mails” between him and Jill Kelley.
Now it will become confusing because this Jill Kelley also seemed to have had quite a close relationship with General Petraeus. And then these ladies seemed to have become jealous of each other and sent harassing e-mails, as women tend to do, which sparked the FBI investigation.
“No, this is NOT my wife either. But I just love these younger ladies.”
No wonder we are not making any progress in Afghanistan if even the top generals spend all day e-mailing and flirting with the ladies.
And then there are still people who believe that gays in the military would be the real problem. Wake up, guys! It’s the straight guys who have their mind far off the battlefield. Meanwhile, gay soldiers are doing their job. More gays, better national security!
Democrats have won the Presidential election as well as more Senate races, but Republicans have introduced much more humour into this election cycle.
Let us not forget the Republicans who made us laugh in 2012. But let’s also not forget that all of these were running for the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States of America. All of them thought they had a serious chance.
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas couldn’t count to three.
Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, spoke in the wrong language, something which impressed me but which didn’t endear him to the Tea Party. I actually found him the most electable of all the Republican candidates.
Michele Bachmann, member of the US House of Representatives, said that being gay is a sad life, is the lifestyle of Satan and leads to personal enslavement. She called it “sexual dysfunction” and “sexual identity disorder”.
Tim Pawlenty, former Governor of Minnesota, is so boring that I couldn’t find any funny video, try as a might. He didn’t stay in the race long.
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House House of Representatives, promised to colonize the moon. Seriously.
Rick Santorum, former US Senator, has the most stupid smirk which makes me want to punch him into the face each time I see him. He believed that he was chosen by God to run for President.
Herman Cain did not know anything about foreign policy. Actually, he knew nothing about the world. Republicans didn’t care. He only dropped out of the race when too many women claimed that they had been sexually assaulted by him.
Mitt Romney, the eventual Republican candidate, of course kept entertaining us all the way through to 6 November.
Donald Trump, the eternal wannabe candidate, was curiously and fetish-like obsessed with President Obama’s birth. The following video is just one of many examples of Donald Trump’s gigantic ego which makes him the most dangerous of all candidates. You don’t want the guy with the biggest ego in the world have control over the largest military in the world.
With some of these people, it was actually hard to decide for only one movie. I am wondering whom we will see again in 2016.
Mitt Romney: “Government does not create jobs.” 
Mitt Romney, a bit later: “As President, I will create 12 million new jobs.”
Luckily, you and others noticed this irony before election day. Dystopian horror stories will be written about what might have happened otherwise.
The Happy Hermit 