Are you ready for 2011? I think I am. (At least I hope so!)
Thanks for your interest, and please come back to this site in 2011! All my best wishes!
Merry Christmas
Christmas at my Great-Grandparents. I believe the girl with the braided hair is my grandmother to-be, which would establish the date somewhere around 1910. (Click to enlarge).
To all those celebrating Christmas near and far, have joyful and happy holidays. If you might indulge me and grant me a wish, then please consider finding ways to restore Christmas as a season of hope and promise for a better world; to be shared and enjoyed among friends and extended family — free from the impersonal tyranny of mindless consumerism, shallow commerce and kitsch.
Double Rainbow
This week, Southern California was drenched by record-breaking rainfalls, resulting in the usual traffic chaos, power outages, floodings, mudslides and other theatrics for which the area is notorious.
But there were also moments of beauty. I snapped these pictures from a moving car while traveling south on the 405 Freeway. The entire arch of the double rainbow was visible, but it didn’t fit into the frame.
Somehow I think John Lennon, who was killed 30 years ago, would have loved these images. (Click to enlarge).
Hello. My name is Richard.
Last weekend, the PR people at the International Motorcycle Expo decided to rename me.
R.I.P. Blake Edwards – Thanks For the Laughs
I love the original Pink Panther movies. Thanks for the laughs, Mr. Edwards! (Peter Sellers, who played Inspector Clouseau, passed away in 1980). May both of you rest in peace.
Facebook Friendships Around The Globe
Click to enlarge! This shows the volume of Facebook relationships around the world, as of December 2010. The image was produced by Paul Butler, an intern on Facebook’s data infrastructure engineering team.
Dear People of China (An Open Letter)
You are one of the oldest civilizations on Earth.
I am filled with deep respect for your many achievements over the course of thousands of years. Your accomplishments in science, language, mythology, philosophy, spirituality, architecture, literature, music, cuisine and so many other cultural and intellectual pursuits are astounding. You have given the world many of the greatest minds.
But out of ten ethnically Chinese Nobel Prize winners so far, only one — journalist and writer Liu Xiaobo — has done his work in his own homeland, where his intellect is wasted in prison.
No less than six (Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, Samual Chao Chung Ting, Steven Chu, Daniel Chee Tsui, Roger Yonchien Tsien) have left China to do their work in the United States of America.
One (Charles Kuen Kao) has done his research in England and Hong Kong, one (Yuan Tseh Lee) in Taiwan, and one (Gao Xingjian) has done his writings in France. One other (the Dalai Lama) is not ethnically Chinese. Although he is highly respected everywhere he goes in the world, he is loathed in the People’s Republic of China — and only there.
Dear Members of Government of the People’s Republic of China:
Does it not give you reason to ask yourselves why so many of your people’s best thinkers feel the need to leave the land of their ancestors?
Your artists, your philosophers and your scientists have so much to contribute to the entire world. They are your best ambassadors, your best assets. We want to hear from them. We all need them to make the world a better and more civilized place.
Wouldn’t it be time to let them do that? Wouldn’t it be better to give them all your support, so that they may earn even more respect for your culture, for the success of your country and for the countless virtues of the Chinese people?
Respectfully,
Reinhard Kargl :.
What a crappy ending …
Last Interview With John Lennon
John Lennon was killed 30 years ago today. Recorded only hours before the murder, this is the very last interview with him and Yoko Ono.
The interview took place at Studio One at the Dakota building in New York, where Lennon and Ono lived and where the deadly shots were fired at the entrance.
Listening to this caused me to pause and remember how quickly and unexpectedly life can end, and how rapidly families and relationships can be shattered.
I have omitted Parts 1 – 3, on which one could hear Yoko Ono chatting with reporters while they are waiting for Lennon, who is running late and enters the room at about 3’40” of Part 4 (below).
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Thanks to Chris Simpson (who goes by the handle NeilFraudstong) for archiving and sharing this material.
We Need More Krampus!
In the misty forests of the northern Alps, under cover of darkness, mysterious figures are making their rounds through the snow.
As he has been doing for many centuries on December 6, Saint Nicholas appears out of nowhere, to bring blessings and gifts to children. If they were good, that is. Bad children may receive a visit from someone else instead …
The amazing National Geographic photographer Carsten Peters had the good fortune to encounter Nikolaus (as he is known in German) and Krampus in Bavaria, which resulted in this wonderful image. It was featured in the December 2010 edition of National Geographic Magazine (“Visions of Earth, p. 12). Click to enlarge.
Saint Nicholas (also known as Nikolaos of Myra) was a third century monk and bishop. Many good deeds and miracles are attributed to this worthy man. He was particularly kind to children.
When I was a kid growing up in Europe (and perhaps because I was a rebellious one who usually identified with the underdog), I was always more interested in Saint Nicholas’ sinister companion and servant: the Krampus. While Nicholas represents everything that is kind and good, the Krampus is a bird of different feather. I kid you not — the Krampus is liable to make children (and sometimes adults too) wet their pants.
Perhaps you were not so good last year. The Krampus might administer a thorough lashing. If you are lucky, that is. He might also fling you over his shoulder and into his knapsack, and take you to places where you really don’t want to go.
Like many of us, Saint Nicholas also emigrated to the New World. But he did not fare well in America.
First, “Saint Nick” was stripped of his dark companion. In America, violence is something kids ought to watch on TV every day, but there’s little public acceptance of it in folk tales, fables and ancient stories. Christian holidays are supposed to be nice and sanitized – and mostly secular, so they can be sold to non-Christians as well. As a marketing tool, Christmas must not offend. It cannot be controversial, and it must not be too thought provoking. Next, Hollywood agents called for a name change. “More catchy and easier to pronounce, please! And drop the “Saint”, so that Protestant majority won’t be offended. How about Santa Claus?”
Then, because too much seriousness is bad for publicity, Hollywood producers admonished him to cheer up and smile for the cameras. And the outfit now had to be a brighter, flashier red.
Worst of all, Wall Street hired Santa as the official spokesman and promoter of “Christmas” cheer and consumerism. Increasingly frustrated, Santa gorged himself on American junk food for comfort, until he became grotesquely obese.
What a shame! Today, there are so many misbehaving children in America. And of course, these turn into nasty, ill-behaved adults. I propose that what America really needs is less Santa Claus … and more Krampus! Wouldn’t it be great?
I love old postcards, so here are a couple of images of greeting cards from the the early 20th Century. (Click to enlarge).
And so, should you hear a rap on your door late tonight, you might think twice about opening. Who might your visitor be? Saint Nicholas — or rather the Krampus?
