Pred nekaj dnevi sem si ogledala film Recount. Odlično prikaže metode republikancev, s katerimi so Georgeu W. Bushu uspeli zagotoviti predsedniški položaj kljub temu, da je najverjetneje prejel manj glasov kot protikandidat Al Gore. Priporočam ogled.

Včeraj sem videla nekaj zelo sorodnega v Mariboru na otvoritvi Evropske prestolnice kulture. V številčni publiki je nekdo začel skandirati “Janša, Janša!” Nihče mu ni pritegnil. Ljudje so ga utišali z glasnim neodobravanjem in žvižgi. Po kratkem premoru je spet začel skandirati. Med publiko je bilo čutiti močno nezadovoljstvo nad njegovim početjem in jezni ljudje okrog njega so ga še glasneje izžvižgali.

Gospod je dosegel svoje. Žvižgalo se je. In  tisti, ki jim gre slovenski predsednik v nos, so takoj začeli trditi, da so v Mariboru izžvižgali njega. Ne glede na to, kolikokrat bomo jaz in drugi, ki smo bili tam, povedali, kaj se je dejansko zgodilo, nič ne bo pomagalo. Prepričani bodo ostali prepričani. Morda celo po ogledu videa “neobjavljeno“, na katerem se sliši se tisto, kar se na televiziji ni.

Mimogrede, reakcija bi bila verjetno enaka ne glede na to, z imenom katerega politika bi izzivali na kulturni prireditvi.

Glasovnice z ameriških volitev leta 2000 so ročno preštevali pari republikanec-demokrat, navzoči so bili opazovalci, vse skupaj so snemali novinarji. Nič od tega Bobu Dolu ni preprečilo, da bi v kamero zatrdil, da se glasovnice ne preštevajo, ampak se ponarejajo novi glasovi za Ala Gora. In Danila Türka so izžvižgali.

Diplomatski odziv predsednika Türka na provokacijo si lahko ogledate na tem posnetku. Zgovoren je aplavz, ki mu je sledil.

Optimistično upam, da bo tudi provokator zavrtel človeka v sebi.

Včeraj zvečer se na Twitterju nisem lepo obnašala. Ves dan sem se načrtno izogibala spletnim mestom, na katerih sem pričakovala objavljene fotografije umorjenega človeka, na koncu pa je tik pred spanjem vame iz zasede skočila z MMC-ja. Zaklela sem. Odziv je bil zelo mešan. Nekateri se strinjajo, da je zadeva neokusna, drugi neprizadeto trdijo, da gre “samo za kadaver”, spet nekdo tretji se je obregnil le ob mojo kletvico. Zjutraj me je razveselil še Dnevnik, ki je fotografijo na prvi strani objavil kar v triplikatu. Da bo bolj prijelo. Ok, če smo natančni, je objavil fotografijo izložbe, v kateri trije televizorji prikazujejo umorjenega človeka.

Pogled na mrtvega človeka ni prijeten. Na umorjenega še manj. Z dejstvom, da fotografijo ta hip lahko vidi vsak otrok, se na tem mestu ne bom ubadala. Ker me v resnici muči krvoželjnost ljudstva, ki mu prodajno usmerjeni uredniki servirajo odsekane glave. Ne ubijaj! Se je kdo spomnil na to malenkost? Ne ubijaj nikogar. Človeška družba potrebuje celo večnost, da prileze do neke stopnje, ki ji samovšečno rečemo civilizacija, zelo hitro pa zdrsne proti svojim živalskim koreninam. Maščevanje, kri za kri, naj pravica meč zavihti! Natanko to me je globoko prizadelo v času vojne v Bosni. Kako hitro pozabimo svoje domnevne civilizacijske vrednote. Kar bliska se.

Ljudi se ne (bi smelo) mori(ti). Tudi padlih samodržcev ne. Sodi se jim. In če jih brez sodnega postopka usmrti kdo drug, potem pa še v žaru zmage vlači naokrog kot kos mesa, se ne (bi smelo) naslaja(ti) nad njimi, ampak storilce obsodi za njihovo dejanje. To so ljudje, ki bodo zamenjali krutega diktatorja. Spodbudno. Zmaga, res.

Nespoštovani mediji, ponudili ste brezplačni razstavni prostor eksekutorjem, katerih dejanje bi morali obsoditi. Lepo vas prosim, da naslednjič, ko začutite močno potrebo po prikazovanju takih grozovitosti, bralce/gledalce opozorite, da sledi želodec obračajoč material. Tako bomo lahko izbirali, ali bomo zadevo pogledali ali ne. Veste, nekateri še nismo popolnoma otopeli.

Danes, 24. 3. 2011, se ob 19h dobimo na Ljubljanskem gradu. Lokalna dobrodelna prireditev Twestival Ljubljana je del krovnega dogodka, pri katerem sodelujejo ekipe prostovoljcev v več kot 160 mestih po svetu. Družili se bomo ob dobri glasbi, se nasmejali stand-up komikom, zraven pa zbirali sredstva za ustanovo Mali vitez, ki pomaga otrokom, ki so premagali raka. Podrobnosti najdete na spletni strani Twestivala Ljubljana.

Twestival sicer organiziramo tviteraši, vabljeni pa ste prav vsi!

Se vidimo!

PS: Sicer upam, da vam bo uspelo priti, če ne utegnete, pa lahko pomagate vsaj z donacijo 1 €. Preprosto pošljite SMS z vsebino MALIVITEZ na številko 1919. Hvala!

Time flies and it is the fourth time in a row that this blog is part of the annual Blog Action Day event. Other entries:  2007, 2008, 2009.

This year, the topic is Water. The precious liquid that rendered life possible and still does. I’m sure fellow bloggers will cover it thoroughly, discuss the importance of the issue for world peace and repeat the mantra of turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, take a shower rather than a bath, use efficient washing machines etc.

What really gets to me personally is the cult of bottled water. Yes, there are places around the world where tap water is not safe to drink and people must resort to using bottled water, but in most European cities where waiters will try to push a plastic bottle, the tap water is just fine. For years now I’ve been refusing to drink bottled water whenever I could (and it was safe to do so).  I have actually walked out of restaurants because the waiter would refuse to serve (expensive) food with tap water after I explained that the reason for my choice were environmental concerns and not its price.  I must add that lately, during the last six months or so, I have been having much less of a problem in this respect than before.

So much energy is used to bottle the water, produce the bottles themselves and then transport them half way across the world or at least continent to be consumed in place of perfectly good water flowing from a safe, controlled water supply system. What a waste! Ah, and water in glass bottles is only better with regard to its packaging, but no different when it comes to the energy used in its ‘production’ and transportation.

So my contribution to today’s topic is a call to shun bottled water whenever safe tap water is available. Since I’ve just spent a month in Paris, here’s my tip when in France. With your meal, ask for tap water by saying “une carafe d’eau, s’il vous plait”.

Cheers!
(and don’t forget to tip)

A vision of two horsepowers at the Paris Motor Show 2010 (photo: dr. fil)

The future as seen at the Paris Motor Show (photo by dr. fil)

Lamborghini at the Paris Motor Show (photo: dr. fil)

V času pariškega tedna mode je potekal tudi štiridnevni sejem oblačil in modnih dodatkov Atmosphere’s. Modni  kreatorji so svoje delo predstavljali butikom, ki zdaj izbirajo, kaj nam bodo ponudili marca.

Objava fotografij je nezaželena, ker se razstavljavci bojijo plagiatorstva najnovejših umetnin. Tako lahko žal le opišem, kar je videlo moje neuko oko.

Prevladujejo nežne barve od peščene do rjave, ki jih poživijo pastelne kombinacije. Črno-bela klasika očitno tudi naslednji sezoni ne uide. Bolj me presenečajo zlati in srebrni čevlji. Kroji so preprosti in čisti, brez navlake. Veliko je platna, ki včasih daje že kar vtis brezoblične žaklovine. Naravno.

Tako kot na pariških ulicah in že zdaj v butikih, šik bejbe hodijo v polnih petah, ki se meni sicer ne zdijo dosti elegantnejše od povprečnega parklja ali kopita.

Splošni vtis je diskretna eleganca.

Elemente Clemente                                            Rosamunda

Adawa S

Last night, I saw a production of Verdi’s Aida with a friend who came over for the weekend. It was a grand affair at the colossal Stade de France whose capacity of 80,000 seats was full but for the top two rows and whatever the orchestra took up. With 500 actors in gorgeous costumes marching faultlessly on 400 tonnes worth of sand covering the arena, the horse-drawn chariots making their way through the array of obelisks and pillars and roars from the tribunes, the show thoroughly deserved its tag of a “spectacle pharaonique“.

The sound was far from perfect for the most part, with orchestra overpowering the singers in a near cacophony, but at times, especially when Aida sang her arias, it was just right. At no point, however, did the imperfections of the sound take away from the breathtaking visual impressions. The final scene with stars flowing from the centre of the arena to the tribunes and up until the entire stadium was a gently blinking starry sky, was magical.

I was impressed with the flawless organisation and execution, the calmness of everyone involved and last but not least with the way that the what must have been a 70,000 strong crowd dispersed through the exits, walked to the metro station and entered the trains without a problem. Oh, and the fact that the stadium featured free Wi-Fi that allowed me to share with friends while the “men in black” were resetting the scenery in one seamless motion and the man on the big screen was explaining what had just happened and what part of the story would follow.

A feast for the eyes, just slightly less so for the ears, but an undoubtedly unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bravo!

My Google alerts e-mails set to to send me links to interesting online articles pertaining to Slovenia have been filled with a single topic for the past few days. One could call it an analysis of the USA-Slovenia football match, but one could just easily summarize it as a long-winded American whine over the draw. This made for an interesting read the first day. Possibly. Now it’s just becoming annoying and very unlike what I imagine the American spirit to be. Call me naive.

The articles focus on the allegedly “stolen” match and on the third US goal being disallowed unjustly. Of course, none seem to mention that the US team played roughly throughout the ninetysome minutes, seemingly confusing real football with the American type thereof, or possibly rugby with certain elements of wrestling. None mention the fact that the US players got away with a lot while half the Slovenian team seemed to be given a yellow card. And I have yet to see a note to the effect that Slovenian forward Pečnik’s ankle was broken by one the the American players. I just read a headline that spells “Pečnik breaks ankle”. He didn’t break his ankle by tripping down a staircase. He had ample help. And not even a simple foul was called.

Look guys, this is sports. The Slovenian team did a great job in the first half-time. The US team did a great job in the second half-time by proving both psychologically and physically well-prepared. The whole thing was rough and the goal scored during a wrestling match in the penalty box was disallowed by the referee. His decision stands.

Now for crying out loud, would you stop whining, admit that the Slovenians played well and focus on the next match. Preferably on how to play real football and not on how to break the opposite team’s players’ bones.