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Battle of Algiers
2007-10-24 20:52:00
When I lived in Paris, I remember always being surprised by the lack of general or critical discussions on the issue of the France- Algeria conflict. I remember asking an Algerian about this and if there was any public debate in his country. He argued "In France they are afraid of destroying the Douce France pictures the world has and in Algeria we are afraid of bringing back the dead".As I am not compelled to protect France's culture nor obliged to take Algeria's grief in consideration, I would like to give you La Battaglia di Algeri (Battle of Algiers) (1966). I reckon it to be well worth of your time, as it is by far the best movie ever made on the subject and argued to be one of the best films ever made.Plot: La Battaglia di Algeri show the Algerian revolution from both sides. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove. The Algerians are seeking independence. The two clash. The torture used by the French is contrasted with the Algerian's...

Zappa
2007-10-23 21:15:00
As for entertainment... a virtuous musician no need for introduction as his name is Zappa !The documentary is about 50 minutes, with some Dutch (yes that insignificant language spoken only in the shire in the Lord of the Rings) through it.Enjoy!

Kissinger: Cyprus, Turkish, Greek issue
2007-10-23 20:43:00
I was pointed out that the documentary below did not include Kissinger 's dubious role in the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey on July 20, 1974. I must admit that I am not fully aware of Kissinger's role in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, though I hope that the following sheds more light on the issue and his role.After the Turkish coup, Kissinger’s actions proved his complicity in the coup and invasion. First, he refused to denounce the coup while Great Britain and most (if not all) of the world’s democracies, denounced it.If Kissinger had denounced the coup, it is assumed that the Greek junta would have fallen and the crisis ended. However, Kissinger wanted to oust Makarios (first President of the Republic of Cyprus). Moreover, Kissinger directed the US ambassador to the UN to postpone the July 15 1974 emergency UN Security Council session on Cyprus, to July 19 1974. This gave Turkey time to prepare to invade Cyprus.In fact it has been argued that he, actually told the New York Ti...
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Kissinger, "hero or scum?"
2007-10-22 19:04:00
Today? Today we go political, in fact we will question the servings of a man considered as one of the highlights in American foreign political success (of which there are not so many recently). No, I am not talking about Bush (naturally), but about the driving force of many current and historic decision making in American politics. Yes, in fact I am talking about Henry Kissinger . For those that unfamiliar with his name and reputation - get more information here (official Nobel Prize Winner's site), here (Britannica) or here (Wiki).This little known, but very critically stimulating, documentary shows Henry's other side. His role involvement in America's secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969, the approval of Indonesia's genocidal assault on East Timor in 1975, the assassination of a Chilean general in 1970, and his involvement in the 1969 Paris peace talks concerning the Vietnam Conflict. In other words, a must-see for all those considering themselves critical.Plot: Part contemporary...
More About: Hero , Scum

Stalker, the making of
2007-10-21 20:03:00
Stalker was made under very harsh conditions. The movie was actually shot twice, as the first tape got, "mysteriously enough", lots... Moreover, the crew was shooting near Tallinn in the area around the small river Pirita with a half-functioning hydroelectric station. Up the river was a chemical plant, which poured out poisonous liquids downstream. There is even this shot in Stalker: snow falling in the summer and white foam floating down the river. In fact the last surviving member of the crew said it was some horrible poison. Many women in our crew got allergic reactions on their faces. Tarkovsky (the Russian director) died from cancer of the right bronchial tube.It is suspected that the 1957 accident in the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, which resulted in a several thousand square kilometer deserted "zone" outside the reactor, may have influenced this film. Seven years after the making of the film, the Chernobyl accident completed the circle. In fact, those employed to ta...
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Stalker
2007-10-21 19:49:00
Staying in tune with post modernist/ structuralist thoughts earlier, I found a movie that quite fits the occasion. I have seen a lot of movies, some meaningless, some interesting, boring, shocking, etc., but this one is very special and definitely in my top 5 list. I am talking about Tarkovsky's Stalker .Plot in a couple of words (though there is much more...): Near a gray and unnamed Russian city is the Zone, an alien place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers. Over his wife's numerous objections, a man rises in the dead of night: he's a stalker, one of a handful who have the mental gifts (and who risk imprisonment) to lead people into the Zone to the Room, a place where one's secret hopes come true. That night, he takes two people into the Zone: a popular writer who is burned out, cynical, and questioning his genius; and a quiet scientist more concerned about his knapsack than the journey.The Room is a place that means different things to the people who journey there, and the st...
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Pasolini
2007-10-20 23:14:00
I am a great admirer of Paso lini (poet, director, writer and perhaps a philosopher). He was both feared and loved; he knew fame and notoriety and was controversial for his blasphemy and stance towards Marxism, homosexuality among many other things. In fact, you might call him a hero.I chose this documentary (sorry in Italian, but its easy to understand) and this post (together with the previous one) to bring to light how important it is to mentally liberate yourself from all that happens around you. I believe that Pasolini has tried to do this all his life and that, that attributed to his most apparent enlightenment (even now, 32 years after his death).
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I'm Glad
2007-10-20 22:56:00
(English)In the roughness of Saturday nightI'm glad to watch peopleoutside laughing in the open air.My heart also is made of airmy eyes reflect the joy of the peopleand in my hair shines Saturday night.Young man, I'm glad with my miserlySaturday night, I'm happy with peopleI am alive, I am happy with the air.I am used to the evil of Saturday night.----------------------------------- --------------(Friulian Dialect)Ta la sera ruda di Sàbidami contenti di jodi la intfôr di ciasa ch'a rit ta l'aria.Encia il me côr al è di ariae tai me vuj a rit la inte tai me ris a è lus di Sàbida.Zòvin, i mi contenti dal Sàbida,puòr, i mi contenti da la int,vif, i mi contenti da l'aria.I soj usât al mal dal Sàbida.- P.P. Pasolini
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David Harvey
2007-10-19 19:58:00
People that are into Marxism, have the highest appreciation for him. People that consider themselves post-modernists or post structuralists disfavour him for his critique in " The Condition of Modernity". Finally, economic liberals fear him for his critical analysis of our present neo liberal political economic climate. I am talking of course about David Harvey.For especially those unfamiliar with him, but also those that did indeed hear of him, I reckon it is well worth spending a couple of minutes listening to his account in "A brief history of Neo Liberalism".Opinion or comment? Drop them in the comment box!Part IPart IIPart IIIPart IVPart V

Zombie Movie
2007-10-19 19:44:00
Sorry for not posting yesterday - try to make it up posting a bit more than normal, today.First off, Zombie stuff (story, but I really like them!). The one below is only 15 minutes long and it gave me a good slapstick laugh.Enjoy Zombie Movie (15 minutes, which you have to give some time to load)

Begotten
2007-10-17 21:23:00
Ever heard of "Elias Merhige"? If not, then you are in for a ride... Prepare for some controversial art- nouveau images, because I selected one of his flicks... "Begotten".Before I am going to give you Begotten check out this clip of a more commercial movie he made not so long ago - "Shadow of the Vampire". It looks really nice, is short (about a minute or so), but breathes Nosferatu (I really liked the atmosphere and the expression of the vampire in the fragment, hope you do too!)Than there is BegottenPlot: "God disembowels himself with a straight razor. The spirit-like Mother Earth emerges, venturing into a bleak, barren landscape. Twitching and cowering, the Son Of Earth is set upon by faceless cannibals".Weird? The movie has no traditional storyline and no dialogue; visually, the film looks as though it has been stressed into high contrast; and the characters, such as they are, were credited as “God Killing Himself” and “Mother Earth.”An acclaimed and controversial film ...

Postmodernist Witches
2007-10-16 22:56:00
I started a new job today, nothing big just earning some money to eat more than just noodles with salt and pepper. The job is not that interesting, I mean pretty straightforward market research BS. Its about interviewing small and medium sized Dutch enterprises and their interest in "Managed Voice and Data Appliances" (in regular English that is phone and Internet!). The only reason for the company hiring a quasi Marxist and semi postmodernist (i.e. me) is because I speak that unspeakable language.... DUTCH!Anyways, I am concurrently studying my butt off at uni. I started today on a postmodern perspective of money and the financial domain. Don't worry, I will not bore you with all kinds of post structuralist, historically discontinuous analysis of what normal people refer to as "CASH"! However, I do want to stay with postmodernism, in a very different matter though, namely.... through witches!I came across of this documentary, made in 1922, which is about....Plot: the history of wi...
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Nuclear stuff
2007-10-15 20:34:00
Sorry for the short break in posting, but academic life is busy at the moment. I am currently doubting whether I should go for a Postmodern or Marxist perspective for my China-Globalisation analysis. Help!Anyways. Studying at the political and international relations Department, allows you also to come across people that are in "security studies" - things like nuclear weaponry, wars and all that kind of "stuff". Sometimes it is possible to have really engaging conversations and other times they can be absolutely disappointing. However, such studies are nevertheless be important for political policymakers to gain permission to invade perilous countries (not calling any names) and devastate economies, cultural life and kill a few here and there. Of course, I know, I know, not all is so black and white!Anyways (once again), a movie that discusses such important issues - By Dawns Early LightPlot The crew of a nuclear bomber attack the Soviet Union while the President of the United State...
More About: Nuclear , Stuff

Chess fever - Shakhmatnaya Goryachka
2007-10-12 15:46:00
I love Chess and I love this movie (even though I can`t read Cyrillic). For those really into chess; the great Capablanca stars in "Chess Fever " of "Shakhmatnaya Goryachka" (1925). Enjoy!Plot: With an international chess tournament in progress, a young man becomes completely obsessed with the game. His fiancee has no interest in it, and becomes frustrated and depressed by his neglect of her, but wherever she goes she finds that she cannot escape chess. On the brink of giving up, she meets the world champion, Capablanca himself, with interesting results.Allow the movie some time to load

Bob Dylan
2007-10-11 20:19:00
After some poetry, some more poetry, but this time in a more visual from. I am a real fan of Bob Dylan , but I understand that you really have to be a big fan to appreciate "Eat the Document".Plot: The documentary is about a Dylan tour made by a camera held in a very shaky hand. The film is about Dylan's tumultuous and historic 1966 tour of Europe with the Band - the one where he was roundly booed and reviled for "going electric" (and from which the recently released "Royal Albert Hall" album was taken). The legendary nature of these shows alone makes it worth having a document of them. Dylan himself re-edited this movie (it was originally a straightforward concert film intended to be shown on ABC-TV) into a bizarre mish-mash of music, surrealism and cinema verite vignettes of Dylan and his companions' offstage antics.Enjoy!

Beacons
2007-10-11 20:14:00
Rubens, garden of idleness watered by oblivion,Where quick flesh pillows the impotence of dreams,Where life's affluence writhes in eddying abandonLike air in the air, or water in streams.Leonardo da Vinci, deep mirror of darkness,Where angels appear, their smiles charged with mysteryAnd tenderness, within the shadowy enclosuresOf pines and glaciers that shut in their country.Rembrandt, tragic hospital re-echoing round a sigh;A tall crucifix for only ornamentTraversed obliquely by a single wintry rayThrough which prayers rise, exhaling from excrement.Michelangelo, no man's land where Hercules and ChristAre at one; where powerful phantoms in crowdsErect themselves deliberately in darkening twilights,With pressed, rigid fingers ripping open their shrouds.Rage of the wrestler, impudence of the faun;Puget the convict's melancholy emperor,Caging the lion's pride in a weak, jaundiced man,Deducing beauty from crime, vice and terror.Watteau, carnival where many a distinguished soulFlutte...

(Not quite) religious poetry
2007-10-11 20:10:00
But now when I gazeat the framed postcardof Ganesh on the wall,I also picture a rotting carcassof a beheaded elephantlying crumpled upon its side, covered with bird shitvulture shit - Oh that elephant whose head survivedfor Ganesh - He died, of course, but the othersin his herd, the hundredsin his family must have found him.They stared at him for hourswith their slow swaying sadness...How they turned and turnedin a circle, with their trunksfacing outwards and then inwardstowards the headless one.That is a dancea group danceno one talks about.- Sujata Bhatt, from 'What Happened to the Elephant?'
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Hitchcock
2007-10-10 19:51:00
Tonight some suspense, some Hitchcock . Let's start off with Perfect Crime (1957).Plot: An arrogant detective, Charles Courtney, prides himself on never having committed a single mistake in his long and distinguished career. He keeps a shelf of labeled mementos from each of his cases. On the shelf there is an open space and a blank tag for what Courtney calls "The Perfect Crime". One day a defense lawyer stuns Courtney when he confronts him with evidence that the detective helped convict an innocent man who has since been executed. Courtney kills the lawyer, bakes him in a pottery kiln, and places the vase in the open space on his shelf as a memento to his perfect crimeAnd the Gentleman Caller (1964), personally introduced by Mr. Hitchcock himselfPlot: Gerald Musgrove shoots and kills a night watchman while stealing $100,000 from a bank. On the street nearby, while eluding police, he meets elderly Emmy Rice, and befriends her. Since he is on parole, he must launder the loot, so he s...

Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!
2007-10-09 19:42:00
Of course, I would not dare to let you suffer without a good movie tonight. Therefore, I found this good old flick, which inspired Tarantino himself. I am talking about "Faster Puss ycat Kil Kill !".Superwomen! Belted, buckled and booted!The Plot: Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become houseguests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own. Movie Stills Movie (please allow it some time to load, depending on your own internet speed)
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Come back - Leamington Spa
2007-10-09 19:29:00
I am sorry about the short blogging pause, but I finally moved to England! I found a cheap, dodgy place in Leamington, which is actually a very small, pretty town close to Coventry and Warwick. I just had my first meeting with my PhD supervisor, which went ok (I think).I don`t have a student card yet, neither do I have a bank card, nor Internet at home (hot water either...). In other words, I am busy organising everything, on top I also need to find a job or I can forget about staying here for more than a couple of months!Anyways, some pictures of (the nicer parts) of Leamington Spa! Next time I hope to have made some pictures myself, cos these are all from the Net and don`t do the town justice...
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Howl's Moving Castle
2007-10-06 23:41:00
I love Miyazaki's movies! Who? Miyazaki, the guy that directed Howl's Moving Castle , Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking animation in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan. I am going to give you Howl's Moving Castle tonight :)A love story between an 18-year-old girl named Sofî, cursed by a witch into an old woman's body, and a magician named Hauru. Under the curse, Sofî sets out to seek her fortune, which takes her to Hauru's strange moving castle. In the castle, Sophie meets Hauru's fire demon, named Karishifâ. Seeing that she is under a curse, the demon makes a deal with Sophie--if she breaks the contract he is under with Hauru, then Karushifâ will lift the curse that Sophie is under, and she will return to her 18-year-old shape. Enjoy (give the movie some time to load)

Roshomon
2007-10-06 23:30:00
Akira Kurosawa's Roshomon (1950) is considered to be one of the best movies ever made. It certainly is a historic masterpiece, produced with both philosophical and psychological overtones.In 12th century Japan, a samurai and his wife are attacked by the notorious bandit Tajomaru, and the samurai ends up dead. Tajomaru is captured shortly afterward and is put on trial, but his story and the wife's are so completely different that a psychic is brought in to allow the murdered man to give his own testimony. He tells yet another completely different story. Finally, a woodcutter who found the body reveals that he saw the whole thing, and his version is again completely different from the othersEnjoy history! (give the movie some time to load)

Thanks Josh
2007-10-06 23:18:00
Yesterday I received a great gift from one of my friends in Paris. Thanks a lot Josh for the big donation you gave me, you really suprised me!
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Godard
2007-10-06 00:21:00
After Pink Floyd there is Godard...This is Godard's documentation of late 1960's western counter-culture, examining the Black Panthers, the role of the media, the mediated image, A growing technocratic society, Womens Liberation, the May revolt in France and the power of language. Cutting between 3 major scenes, including the Rolling Stones in the studio, the film is visually intercut with Eve Democracy (Wiazemsky) using graffiti which amalgamates organisations, corporations and ideologies. Godard also examines the role of the revolutionary within western culture. Although he believes western culture needs to be destroyed, it can only be done so by the rejection of intellectualisation."There is only one way to be an intellectual revolutionary, and that is to give up being an intellectual"Sympathy for the DevilMore Godard? Alphaville is an attack on the syndrome of Science Fiction films full of flash and color but devoid of ideas. An excessively weird although constantly engaging...

#1 Hitchhiking - The Art of the Game
2007-09-13 02:39:00
Hitchhiking, or also known as “good old thumbing”, “hitching”, “autostop” (a term mainly used in Eastern Europe) or “thumbing up a ride” (a term I did not know before), is a great way of travelling around. I believe this mode of transportation to be so kool that I have decided to write a short tutorial about it (I could have written a whole book, believe me!).If you have been following my blog (click here for old posts), you would have noticed that I already have quite some hitchhiking experiences. I have been hitchhiking all across Europe, both East, West and Central Europe. I also hitched in England, Ireland, Russia, China and Mongolia. In retrospect, I would have loved if somebody would have introduced me to some of the fundamentals behind hitching when I started. It would have saved me a few days waiting on the side of the road with my proudly self-made signs. Unfortunately, there was not a lot on the Web and I did not know any hitchers, so I had to all figure a...
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Charles Baudelaire - Always Be Drunk
2007-09-12 16:09:00
I have always like Char les Baudelaire, not only for his technical virtuosity to find and connect the right words at the right moment, but especially and mostly for his great passion to live emotions to the extreme.The poem below forces you to read in an incremental pace resembling something like Jacques Brel's Amsterdam . Starting gradually, but then swiftly accelerating to finally explode at the end.Always be drunk.That's it!The great imperative!In order not to feelTime's horrid fardelbruise your shoulders,grinding you into the earth,Get drunk and stay that way.On what?On wine, poetry, virtue, whatever.But get drunk.And if you sometimes happen to wake upon the porches of a palace,in the green grass of a ditch,in the dismal loneliness of your own room,your drunkenness gone or disappearing,ask the wind,the wave,the star,the bird,the clock,ask everything that flees,everything that groansor rollsor sings,everything that speaks,ask what time it is;and the wind,the wave,the star,the b...
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PhD Proposal
2007-09-12 14:27:00
As you might have understood already from my profile, I will start a PhD in October this year. The theme? “China’s development and the implications for understanding contemporary globalisation” I don’t want to bore you with the details, but if you are indeed interested you can find the contents of my PhD research proposal here (PDF) or below (to enlarge the script, use the horizontal scroll in the menu). If this made you really enthusiastic, you will be able to find even more resources on my Red Capitalism portal! In any case - whether you love or hate it - let me hear your comments! Of course, it would be even grander if you could support me by donating some nickels and dimes using the button on this site!
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Nine Eleven
2007-09-11 20:19:00
Today is a special day, at least that is what we are supposed to believe. Why? Well, my calendar says "nine-eleven"... Everybody remembers the horrors of people jumping out of the windows, men and women covered with dust on their faces running on the streets of Manhattan or the brave firemen disappearing to a certain death in heaps of smoke (sorry, maybe I have seen to many movies).It is undeniable that the event was disastrous. Ending not only the lives of almost 3000 people, but also and perhaps most importantly changing the lives of millions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the after-match.Plenty has been written on possible conspiracy theories here, here, here, here or maybe have a look here, well okay this here maybe also etc, etc, etc. If you are really a great fan, watch the embedded movie below.Me, myself I am not a great fan of conspiracy theories. Simply because of the fact that they lead nowhere. A hypothesis has to be tested for truth, before being considered as such. However,...

More Traffic!
2007-09-11 12:18:00
My regular followers have noticed that I have completely face-lifted both the contents and the lay out of my website. To what purpose? Well, I hope to earn a bit of money for my PhD with this project! I have been writing national and regional newspapers here in The Netherlands and asked them to somehow publish my story. I am still waiting for replies, but I sincerely hope to get some publicity going so that I can get more traffic here!Any ideas how to get more visitors on my site? Drop all your thoughts as a comment!
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Red Capitalism
2007-09-11 12:12:00
Because of the diverse set of topics on this site, I have decided to create a new one RED CAPITALISMThis site will be dedicated and targeted at covering news related to my PhD theme: ChinaFeel free to have a look here
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