&Have you seen the new ad for the Mac now running on an Intel processor yet? When I first saw it I really liked it. And I still do – but not as much anymore. Although at first tons of websites reported that the idea for the video was stolen from a musicvideo by The Postal Service, people later found out that it isn’t, at least legally. It’s simply done in the same way by the same director. (EliteProductions has published a comparison video that clearly illustrates the spot is copied.) I understand Apple really liking that video ’cause it is damn cool, but why the heck did they copy the whole thing nearly frame per frame for their ad?

The Postal Service at least didn’t know anything about this, as on their website it says:

It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers’ new television commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video for ‘Such Great Heights’ made by the same filmmakers responsible for the original. We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation or consent.
- Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service

But now comes in the reason why I still like that spot: the guy talking about the “Intel chip,” that, for years, “has been trapped in dull little box, dutifully performing dull little tasks when it could have been doing so much more” is Kiefer Sutherland, the actor that plays Jack Bauer on the ingenious hit series 24. I love this guy (only as an actor of course), and I’ve been fascinated by his voice since he played the assassin in Phone Booth, where he only talks on the phone throughout the whole movie without ever appearing on screen, except for a single scene at the very end, so the audience has nothing but his voice to imagine the character. That voice really bound me to the movie. That’s also the reason why I really hate the German dubbing of the series 24 (although I hate – German – dubbing in general).

If not for the director’s genius, than for this great voice.

Google’s shares go down in value nearly eleven billion dollars because they try to protect people’s privacy rights, in Russian temperature keeps falling as far as minus 61 degree centigrade and claims more and more victims, in New York a dead man is sitting in the subway without anyone noticing, in Germany a father aged fifty is sentenced for having abused his then twelve year old daughter and made a porn film with her, in Belgium an ex-headmaster lets half-naked minor girls fight against each other while tapping the whole thing and asking a hundred euros of men to watch them, a German journalist forces two minor boys into oral and anal sex, a medic is charged of abusing his female patient in the ambulance, an online gamer aged twenty-one commits suicide in front of his webcam. The conservative catholic organization Opus Dei desperately tries to get a PG-13 for The Da Vinci Code.

Why shouldn’t I be proud to be a human?

A funny top 15 reasons list why geeks and nerds are the better boyfriends. Guys, spread that list among girls. :-)

Link

(via JensScholz.com)

Here I am, listening to this song telling me about someone
In whom I have stopped believing over two years ago.
Here I am, holding a possible future in my hand,
Trying to get a clear view on the far side of this shore.
With every grain of sand I screen through my fingers
The pieces of the puzzle fit together more and more,
And finally, the potential future becomes my love for you.
Here I am, asking the question to which I know the answer:
What shall I fear besides knowing I will lose you forever?
Here I am, on my knees, begging you to keep me here
Only a bit longer, and eternalize this last summer.
I must go now and never return to where I will always remain.
Here I am, knowing you have always been in my heart
And always will.

(song of the moment: “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns)

What stumbles there in obsurity,
Through glooming in this blackish blue
Will have been put on the rack.
Cry and break under torture my beloved -
Howl! What falls here in darkness is darkness,
What spreads where evil lies is evil -
Foresuffer, my darling, here I come
To chain your soft hands and cut your fingers of.

I’m wandering through dark, unable to find light, I stumble, hit the walls. Again. My arms are aching, my elbows feel bleeding. The dark red ceiling is blue. Is coming closer. I am creeping, clinging, truckling – too dim is the dead phoenix’s fire, too loud is the silence. Leave me alone, together with the one who was already gone.

But it is a dream – wake up! only a dream. It is so too real. Blue or red pill? Your choice will be mine, will be definite. We will meet in room 101 by hook or by crook.

Therefore give me your hope and faith,
I will treat it well where you died.
I the void after our eximplosion
Have killed your trust, now let me cut off your soft hair -
Black is the color you love, blue I affect.

No light at the end of the tunnel, almost no bright at all. But where is the dim coming from? No windows, no doors. Noiseless paces speeding up, coming closer. I can hear the loud inaudible. A breath, a dreadful groaning streaming through the corridor, pushing me away from the beginning towards the end in their vicious circle.

Let me endure this horror a bit longer and save me from the terror. What will happen has occured in my fears, whatever is following me knows better than anyone else. How pathetic! welcome to death you unworthy living.

Angst haunts me where depression left me alone. I lie lying, turning and tossing in my bed, wanting to lay my head on the white shoulder, bathed in perspiration and waiting for honor to whisper in my ear.

Obsession is wondering about the wanderer
Stepping through the won’t and the want -
Come here, slowly stepping, I am your crook
If you get to me. Hold on to the unintelligible,
It will die you together now us.
Forelove, my darling, here I come
To take your hand and lead you into darkness,
Where dystopia and love will have been.

- – - -
Na’ima is Arabic meaning comfort, happiness, peace, benefit or tranquility.

party at Rengel (April 4th, 2004)

Some keywords by which people came on this blog.

sad thoughts
Well seems fitting…
italian podcast
I’d have been glad to help ’cause it would mean I knew a good one.
thedrama.co.uk
It’s something I’ll never understand: why google an url?
nice christmas thoughts
Gonna be tough to find some here…
thoughts of great peoples
It’s people (without the ‘s’), but thanks for the compliment… I guess…
i am sad blog
Yeah…
significance of that light had now vanished forever
Another ‘Great Gatsby’ fan :)
moonriver lyric
What is moonriver lyric?
sad love thoughts
Oh hell, welcome to my world :)
legend of maori god paikea
watching ‘Te Kaieke Tohora’ might be an idea
nadddyn
Wow, one comment by Naddyn and I got another visitor :)
nickelback far away itunes
Oh! Oh! Take me! Oh! Got a crazy idea: why not look on iTunes?
luxemburgish artists
Thanks.
smell of chestnuts
Hey that’s my metaphor! Who’s using that?
deep thoughts on falling in love
Oh man…
heles thierry
Yep, that’s me!
ben tibber fan
Not a fan really, although his performance as David was great.
anarchist thoughts blog
This is probably the place you were looking for.
most sold newspaper in the world
Bild?
photography of prison life for children in bulgaria
How the hell did you get here?

“When did you first meet her?”, mother asked.
“Five years and six months ago”, I replied.
“How long have you been in love with her?”, mother asked.
“Five years and six months”, I replied.
“When did you tell her?”, mother asked.
“Some day”, I replied.
“She was killed in a car accident this morning”, mother returned.

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a café before school, reading the last pages of Dickens’ Hard Times. Around 9 o’clock, a group of people came in. I knew all of them. I knew which school they’re in, which class they’re in and I knew their names. Some of them I’ve even already talked to, but that was a long time ago. Too long apparently for them to remember. I did not really care, most of them ignored me already before and didn’t respond to a simple hello. So I kept on reading.

Ten minutes later some more people came in. Again, I knew all of their names. Some of them I’ve already paid a drink, but they ignored me, too. I was quite happy about that, I had no interest in talking to them, I simply know too many crazy things about them.

One of that second group of people came towards me, C. He asked me if I could move to another table, so he and his friends could put some tables together. Long story short, I moved. He was kind and I had no reason to refuse his request.

His friends started telling him he shouldn’t mither other people. But although I had just done something he had asked me to, I felt superior. I knew who he was, I even have a video of him getting drunk, and he obviously had no idea who I was. Call me weird, strange, crazy, or whatever, but I enjoy knowing things about other people who don’t know anything about me. I could have answered something like ‘well Mr W. if you’re asking me that kindly, I can’t refuse’, but I chose not to. I prefer the silence and gathering of some more information.

Knowledge is power. Some day I will rule you all. :-)

There are a couple of things on my mind which I herded with the afterthought of blogging them. But I must admit that i am at a loss, how can I speak of the futility of blogs the very same moment I am writing on a post for one ? How can i accuse a lust for public attention when ultimately I am writing this not for me but for the world at large ?
It is my very opinion that blogs are in most cases not of any functionality whatsoever, they are, and that seems already to cover it. They get filled with text, which sometimes is read sometimes may be not, there is no real discussion possible on a blog, the author has the power, comments already will not appear on the front page. Posts will fill up like in a bad Tetris-clone, bad because there is no end to it, there is no level above which there is game-over.
Yet everybody seems quite content with this, I have to admit me too i enjoy the blogs (this one here quite a lot for example, though there seems to be a problem right now: i cannot post comments, can you ? There seems to be a problem with the database, yet Thierrys posts keep coming, because he hasn’t noticed … see what i mean about blogs not being a platform for communication ?) but I fail to understand their real function, are they no more than a place to fill when there is nothing else to do, are they no more than a show-off for extroverted persons ? And why do I keep coming back, yes even writing myself. Because I am letting off some steam ? Could be. To shock a little ? Yes for sure; I will try to explain something for you: take a look at this blog, have you watched from the very beginning ? Can you also see the evolution of it ? Can you see how comments appear along with less lyrical, less personal posts ? For my part i come here because of the posts that Thierry fills under “thoughts” yet they have become less frequent, and they are not commented, which is not a bad thing since everyone will see something different in them, and for discussions email or chats with the author are far better than the comment-function. So what I keep asking myself is why the hell do we need blogs ? Thierry could also publish his text in bookform or on a wepage like his .. all he would lose are posts and comments about films or recent events…. which in my opinion are better of in a forum where discussion can take place in better conditions.
There is something very frightening about blogs, people keep telling their lives at everyone who might want to listen to it, but for what purpose ? In a feeling of (fake) anonymity they are committing themselves to a sort of diary… with one big difference, a diary is kept private. I sometimes feel ashamed when reading those blogs, ashamed for spying on other peoples lives.. something I would not do, except that here noone knows and personally I think that just about noone cares that I do, so I do it satisfying some kind of obscure curiosity.
The proximity which mankind evolved to escape is getting back at us.
Well it is not as bad as that, but it is a matter I consider as serious. There is something else that remains to be said: I will not post here often and I will only post under “thoughts” since it is the only section that I personally find fitting for a blog (yes i am also fishing for public attention here).
Feel free to comment (as soon as the comments system is up again :P) and to disagree with my statement, since this is only my opinion I might be dead wrong (I probably am too).