British teenagers playing with fire in August 2011:
British teenagers playing with fire in August 2012:
I found 2011 more exciting.
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Easily confused, # 2
Books are still cool
The stage at this year’s Tomorrowland Music Festival in Boom, Belgium:
You can’t do that with all your I-Pads, Kindles and e-readers, can you?
Shops that may want to change their name, # 3
Photographed last year during the Tottenham Riots in London (under extreme danger to my own life, I might add):
Maybe this was the real cause behind the Tottenham Riots?
– Hey Jerk, a bread and a bagel please.
– What did you call me?
– Jerk!
=> riot
A Windmill in Malta
(photographed on a visit to Buskett Gardens in Malta)
Posted in Malta, Photography, Technology, Travel
1 Comment
Smoke & Clouds
It was hard to tell where the smoke ends and the clouds begin.
With the right sky as a background, even a polluting factory can look good.
Why did Romney pick Paul Ryan?
Ever since Mitt Romney announced his pick of Paul Ryan as his running mate in the US presidential election, people are wondering: “Why?” Luckily for my readers, I have gotten hold of Mitt Romney’s secret memo which outlines the reasoning behind his choice.
My recent trip to Europe and Israel has made it obvious that I have no foreign policy experience – maybe not even a foreign policy itself – and that I will be an embarrassment to America abroad. Because of that, it is important that I pick a VP candidate who will not outshine me on this issue. I will need somebody who preferably hasn’t even travelled abroad, especially not to Europe because people tend to get weird ideas if they spend too much time over there (when it’s really the Mormons‘ job to spread weird ideas to Europe).
My next weak spot is security policy. President Obama has withdrawn US forces from Iraq and tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden. There is no way I can compete with him on that issue. I would not even want to do anything military, it might ruin my haircut.
To cover up this security policy deficit, I will announce my pick in front of a (decommissioned) battleship. Even better, I have found a candidate whose last name is Ryan, which will remind people of Saving Private Ryan and of Tom Clancy’s character Jack Ryan. That should be enough.
As a multi-millionaire, I just love Paul Ryan’s tax plan. That’s a no-brainer. I wonder why these other Republicans who thought they had a shot at the VP slot didn’t amend their offers. These guys understand nothing about negotiating.
Members of my own party still doubt if I am a real Republican. In order to alleviate their doubts, I need to make certain that I don’t pick a female, a Jew, a Latino or someone black.
When I will be President and I will have to escape to a Presidential retreat or if Air Force one will crash on a remote island, I want a guy next to me who can hunt and fish and help us to survive. Because I was raised with servants and couldn’t even fry a schnitzel myself.
Also, this outdoor and hunting thing worked really well with Sarah Palin in 2008. I think. I am not sure because I wasn’t even following the campaign back then. I was busy making millions. Why should I care about anything else?
Signed,
Mitt Romney
Companies that may want to change their name, # 2
Yesterday and coincidentally while having lunch with a hitchhiker from France, I came across Vichy Water.
I wonder if drinking this will turn me into a Nazi collaborator?
History is never far away in Europe
Cycling back from beautiful Europos Parkas to Vilnius, I came across this reminder about the gruesome history of the 20th century in Europe.
The marker was almost hidden in a forest, on the outskirts of the village of Joneikiškės. Just another village where 70 years ago, people probably “didn’t know anything about what was going on” at best or were collaborating in the Holocaust at worst.
As beautiful as Central and Eastern Europe is, one is wandering on killing fields almost everywhere. It is hard to imagine now when you are in a beautiful Old Town or a peaceful forest. But just two generations ago, the Nazis and their willing collaborators visited even the remotest corners of this continent with their murderous killing machinery. Most people stood by silently, took part or benefited from the “disappearance” of neighbours and competitors. Very few resisted, acted selflessly, did the right thing.
Only two generations ago. Many people of this generation are still alive and among us. Even more alive are the dangerous thoughts, the discrimination, the anti-Semitism, the racism.
Is it a surprise that I sometimes don’t trust this peace? Are we really that different from our grandparents and their generation? Why would humankind suddenly change to the better that much? Haven’t we just been lucky for 70 years? Think about this on your next trip – but don’t let it ruin your travels!
(Es gibt auch eine deutsche Version dieses Artikels.)
Posted in Europe, History, Holocaust, Lithuania, Photography, Travel, World War II
17 Comments
Mitt Romney is giving up
Mitt Romney has realised that with every interview, every press conference and every further day in the US presidential campaign, he will embarrass himself more. So he does the only right thing: Mitt Romney withdraws from the presidential race 2012 before having to undergo further embarrassment in the televised debates with President Barack Obama.
“Paul, I am so fed up with the campaign already, please take it over from here.”
Today, Mitt Romney announced that Paul Ryan will be “the next President of the United States of America”, meaning that Barack Obama will be re-elected in November 2012 and Paul Ryan’s chance will come in 2016.
The Greenest Art Museum in the World: Europos Parkas
Yesterday, I found out that the guidebooks which state “Lithuania is perfect for cycling because it is almost completely flat” are wrong. When I cycled the 23 km to Europos Parkas – or “Park of Europe” – from my home in Vilnius, it was one hill after the other. Up and down, up and down. And the same on the way back. But it was a beautiful day trip.
Europos Parkas is an art museum in the forest. It covers a huge area with natural forests, clearings and lakes. There are hundreds of sculptures, but the park is so large that it doesn’t feel cluttered at all. It’s a beautiful place to get lost in and to become surprised by what you can find in this magical forest.
There are exhibits from small
to large.
From massive structures
to delicate ones.
Incorporating the ground,
the water,
and the air.
One of the most famous sculptures is the LNK Infotree for which people could donate old TV sets. Unfortunately, it is no longer visible in its original enormous size, but it is still something impressive to stumble upon during a stroll through the forest.
A few more photos, randomly selected:
I hope you got a feeling for the variety of the art at Europos Parkas. For me, despite the numerous artwork on exhibit, the forest itself was the most beautiful component of this outdoor museum.
(C) for all photos: Andreas Moser on 9 August 2012
