Do you remember Julia, the stone carving woman and her companion Lawsonson? Anyhow, she came by the other day and brought a bunch of driftwood she picked up from beaver-dams near by. She said: Isn't it fascinating how these animals are such awesome carvers? Then we arranged the pieces on a table and Julia thereafter started to put her own imprints on a peace of wood (no picture). I really am excited to carve something, she said...
Excellent! I was not aware that beavers could inspire people to start carving until now. And so it goes. Julia has been accepted at Harvard (from all places) and an other college I can't remember (somewhere in Pennsylvania) to study Landscape Design.
Maybe the beavers got her a head start ...

Spring fever

I don't know what to come up with, almost diverted to a post about Iraq, saying: "I told you so"!
Three years ago I assumed that the "hidden agenda" of the US in Iraq is to establish permanent air-bases, a thing that Rumsfeld always denied. But now it is not a well kept secret anymore. The US is there to stay, perhaps for decades...
In the mean time V is back from Costa Rica, almost drowned his girlfriend in the pool but found some quiet moments together on that bench thereafter...
Meanwhile my "blondes" are jumping, either because spring fever hit them, or because they want to plummet the ball into the basket.
What does your spring fever look like?

(as always, you can click on the pictures in order to enlarge them to a higher resolution)

"Love At First Sight" by Alan Ziegler

It was a novelty-store and he went in just for the novelty
of it. She was in front of the counter, listening to the old
proprietor say: "I have here one of those illusion paintings,
a rare one. You either see a beautiful couple making love,
or a skull. They say this one was used by Freud himself on
his patients—if at first sight you see the couple, then you are
a lover of life and love. But if you focus on the skull first,
you're closely involved with death, and there's not much hope for you."
With that, the proprietor unwrapped the painting. They both hesitated, looked at the picture, then at each other. They both saw the skull. And have been together ever since.

PROVERBS FROM HELL and birds

Finally a swarm of birds settled and perched for a few minutes at trees surrounding our space here. They came back from southern places, announcing with enthusiastic shrieks that now the time of frost and isolation has passed.
As people wake up from slumber avenues open; new prospects and new desires bud to surface. Have you made your own plans yet?

But the "Proverbs From Hell" by William Blacke still resound in memories of winter - here are a few:

No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.

The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
The nakedness of a woman is the work of God.

He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.

Eternity is in love with the productions of time.

If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.

The horrors of sex education

A teacher asks her class, "If there are 5 birds sitting on a fence and you shoot one of them, how many will be left?" She calls on little Johnny. He replies, "None, they all fly away with the first gun shot" The teacher replies, "The correct answer is 4, but I like your thinking."
Then, Little Johnny says "I have a question for YOU. There are three women sitting on a bench having ice cream: One is delicately licking the sides of the triple scoop of ice cream. The second is gobbling down the top and sucking the cone. The third is biting off the top of the ice cream. Which one is married? "The teacher, blushing a great deal, but finaly replied "Well I suppose the one that's gobbled down the top and sucked the cone" To which LittleJohnny replied:
"The correct answer is the one with the wedding ring on, but I like your thinking."

Spring is in the air!

The bench is finally upright!

So, I am presently not thinking about political stuff in Iraq, not the US, nor Africa or Europe. And neither Asia or the North Pole. And while some of our friends in the southern hemisphere transgress into fall, we here above the equator experience the return of life in nature. For me it was a long winter and I definitely welcome spring!
Tomorrow I will participate in a performance with my daughter and two other girls - singing two Dylan songs in a "open mike" situation. I might record it and transform the recording into a Mp3 format. All I need to know now is: How can you share those files efficiently on the net? I am new to this "sharing thing", so please help me out.

Soap Opera News

Osama bin Laden’s niece, an aspiring singer who also posed for sexy photo shoots, has signed up for a reality television show about her life and her as yet unfulfilled “quest for stardom.”
Wafah Dufour (she changed her last name ... don't blame her) will play a young woman who falls in love, has her heart broken, worries about her looks, doesn’t always listen to her mother, and hasn’t spoken to her father in years...


Whatever, the ingredients for "starlet-fame" are all here. The right "curves", the regular script for the show, and a noticeable personal biography. Even though I don't watch TV, I'll predict it will be a flop. The US has not forgiven the "Bin Laden's" yet and victims of 9/11 are already climbing the barricades in protest. Of course that is silly - can't throw everyone into the same pot. But there is something about a tainted name ... something that never goes away, no matter how hard you try.

Speed away ...

An older lady gets pulled over for speeding...
Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer?
Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.
Older Woman: Oh, I see.
Officer: Can I see your license please?
Older Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.
Officer: Don't have one?
Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.
Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.
Older Woman: I can't do that.
Officer: Why not?
Older Woman: I stole this car.
Officer: Stole it?
Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.
Officer: You what?
Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see.

The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please! The woman steps out of her vehicle.
Older woman: Is there a problem sir?
Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.
Older Woman: Murdered the owner?!
Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.

The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.

Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?
Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers. The officer is quite stunned.
Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.

The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer.

The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.

Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.
Older Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.

Celebrate three years of war - or else piss off!

Last week the country that aspires to lead the free world stood alongside only Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands against 170 countries in rejecting the creation of a new UN council to protect human rights. Only the US and Somalia (which has no recognised government) have failed to ratify the UN convention on the rights of the child.
That for a start of my commemoration about the 3rd anniversary of the Iraqi war! Elections keep on producing the wrong results. Hamas is in power in Palestine; René Préval, the protege of Jean-Bertrand Aristide whom the US helped remove in a coup two years ago, won the presidency in Haiti; Ahmed Chalabi, the protege of the neocons whom the US wanted to impose on the Iraqi people at the outset of the war, could not win a single seat. Elsewhere, voters in Latin America have opted for leaders who campaigned against the neoliberal economic strictures imposed by Washington.
The issue is not whether the developing world is ready for democracy - as the administration keeps arguing - but if the US is ready for the democratic choices made by the developing world.
And what is the price for that effort of "democratization"? 38'000 civilian deaths in Iraq so far and a hefty $500-$600 bill per month on taxpayers in the US if you actually would distribute the cost. But instead the government raised the US debt limit to NINE TRILLION dollars. I can't even fathom how much money that is!

Wrong war. Wrong strategy. Wrong president. Just plain wrong - piss on him!

nothing to write about

The nature of war is such, that it first has to be settled in our own minds. The outer battlefields are merely projections of that inner life, projected outward to a physical plane that makes it possible for all to see.
The "peace" within humanity can never be solved, unless the "internal" factor has been addressed first.
There is no victory on soil - even Muslims understand this. I wish Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney and others would see it that way as well. But they don't!

Fire them, fire who?

A very famous multinational company was going through a tough time and the president/boss of the company was left with only one option: call one team of workers for a private chat.

- I'm really sorry, I know all of you are ver well qualified and great workers, said the boss, but I'm gonna have to fire one of the four of you.

- Excuse me, boss! - said the african-american. I'm part of what is considered a minority! If you fire me, it'll be discrimination!

- You can fire me, said the old man. But I'll sue the company for discrimination of age and the company will go bankrupt.

- I am a woman!, said the only woman in the group. You can't just fire the only woman in the group since there are also 3 other guys! That's sexual discrimination.

Everybody's attention then turned to the fourth worker, a young, good looking, healthy and white man.

- Oh boy!, said the young man quickly - I never thought I'd do this, but I have just turned gay!

Big and bigger

The US military says it has launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, targeting insurgents near the central city of Samarra. More than 50 aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and US troops have been deployed in the operation, a military statement says. In the mean time the US has authorised its envoy in Baghdad to hold talks with Iranian officials about the situation in Iraq. It would be the first public dialogue since the 1979 hostage crisis, after which the nations broke off ties.
Simultaneously Bush gave his blessings today to stick to the policy of pre-emptive attacks on states he considers hostile. The 48 something page document released today started with a cover letter of Bush. The first five words were:
"Our nation is at war..."
Aha!

Saddam without a tie

I have been focusing about so called politics too much. There is no cure. Eventually I'll be ranting again, can't help it...
But the spider webs in my studio need attention now. There is "spring cleaning" to be done.
Here is a view of one of my walls, decided not to paint them white... instead sketched a "spring theme". If you are offended by nudity - look away. A shot of a window sill is next; a Swiss lantern, stained glass against the window, a postcard of the cathedral in Freiburg/Germany (the only true gothic building that got finished in one generation, while the original architect was still alive). I could tell you why (has to do with financing issues) but I will not ... at this time. The last picture ... oh well!
So the question remains, why did Saddam appear in court today without a tie? That is not his style!

My good brother

Ok, I will not be shy and commit to popular pressure. The alert level is yellow, sort of "elevated state of anxiety". (Between you and me, that "state" will last indefinitely - makes things more malleable and practical for politicians). In the mean time, I am planting seeds that will grow flowers and vegetables.

Two books you're not supposed to read

One is the compilation and the observations by Robert Spencer, titled: Politically incorrect guide to ISLAM, the other is the Qur'an itself, the final truth "from the horses mouth"! If you, despite my warnings will venture to read these scripts you will start to understand that Islam is a religion of violence since it's very conception, a religion based on warfare that only can end if all infidels are either converted to praise Allah, or simply become the under-cast part of a population obeying the laws of Dhimma. No Islamic apologist will ever wiggle his way out of this and content with the idea that also Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace. It simply is not. Eventually he (there is no she in Islam) will have to come to the same conclusion. (if any honesty is involved...)
A fairly readable and well done translation of the Qur'an in English is published by Penguin Books by N.J. Dawood. Muslims tend to dislike him because he was a non Muslim. So, the alternative translations are by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Maraduke Pickthall, but both are tedious to read because they are marred by using a pseudo-King James Bible english.
If you have further interest to read up on ISLAM, consider the books written by Bat Ye'or, "Islam and Dhimmitude" and the book "Eurabia".

What do you want

Everything has been said, by me - by others. Why bother to continue the negative rap. Who is listening? Do we have to get even more depressed by rehashing the bad news?
The one who rules with a sword and endures resistance with confidence and conviction wins. It has always been like that, sad but true.
Reason is usually a toy for those who are unable to even swing a dagger, not to mention to be able to resist the ongoing temptation of conformity in a society that enjoys deep slumber.
Silence becomes compliance by default for the masses who can not commit to either evil or good.... before it is too late.
Hitler's Germany is a "good" example. My grandfather was during the 30's involved in the import business of steel. He "washed his hands" in that diluted puddle of innocence because he was not part of "the party", so he claimed. But he never stood on his "hind-legs" during that time and declared: I'm done with this, I am not going to support this madness with one iota.
Interestingly enough he died from the consequences of a car accident that crushed his legs in the early 60's. Nevertheless, I loved him... I remember drawing a painting for him in the hospital shortly before he died.

So today (or rather two days ago) Milosevic died of heart failure, an other death of sorts. Do I loose tears? No. He was a disgusting ruler who's reign was decorated with the smell of decaying bodies refusing to conform to his regime or who just happened to be the "wrong" people, the Muslim peoples that is. But I would still draw a picture for him on his death bead had I been there...
Nevertheless, he was the "ruler" with the sword in his hand during his time - But who remembers Tito these days, the man who united with an iron fist the Croats, Muslims and Serbs in former Yugoslavia. Nobody!
You see, there is a similarity between "Tito's Yugoslavia" and "Hussein's Iraq". Saddam had three fractions to deal with as well. And he scrupulously did so with the grand blessings of the US because the US was still mad at Iran after their puppet Shah had been toppled in the 70's and therefore by default supported Iraq's war against Iran.
Today the US is swaggering the sword against the entire Muslim entity of importance in the Arab world, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and now the United Arab Emerates. But with little to no effect! The so called "war against terrorism" has become a total farce and is sold to the people in the States by its crummy "face value". Propaganda rules. Keep all the sheep in the shed, don't let them out, don't let them have an opinion or their own thoughts. That indeed would be a detrimental breach of "democracy".
Someone might actually exchange their useless dagger with a sword.
But so far we comply fully, slaves of the ruling establishment.
We are fine sheep.
Bravo!

Ok, I will mellow....

A person in Austria states that my face looks like the inside of my stomach, gosh - that is terrible! I suppose I have to go on a "retreat" to heal!
Anyhow, there is a low/res pic here about a spring adventure I captured a few years ago. May the girls be blessed (one has a child now) but may they also continue the spirit and rites of "spring".

Canada backs Sikh dagger rights and loves "peace"

Gurbaj Singh Multani was aged 12 when the controversy erupted
Canadian Sikhs should be allowed to wear small daggers central to their faith when they go to school, the country's Supreme Court has ruled.
In an 8-0 judgement, the court reversed the ruling of a Montreal school board, which banned Gurbaj Singh Multani from wearing his dagger, known as a kirpan.
The kirpan is deemed sacred by Sikhs as a symbol of power and truth.
Announcing the judgement, the Supreme Court said that a total ban on kirpans violated the country's Charter of Rights.
The charter guarantees total religious freedom within Canada.

OK Canada, let me start my own religion, the Zee religion. Are you going to be up for this? In my religion young people are supposed to carry automatic weapons at all times. Do you like that "religion" , will you support my aim? Please be reasonable and fair, I know you can do it! And god dam support me because it is your duty and the charter of your constitution!

Sikhs wearing, and be allowed to wear daggers at schools for reasons that are beyond my comprehension (religious, moral and ethical) that is just too much! Give me a break! No, it is not my troubled mind or dislike of religious fanatics that has gone astray lately, it is the governments I despise who are putting forth endless debacles of equality without knowing what the heck equality actually means for peoples on this earth.
Canada has failed to live up to it's original template, namely to protect freedom as a sanctuary of all humans, not only Arabs.
Pheiewww!

India gets blessed by Bush

Bush's three-day visit to the world's largest democracy, which is also Asia's third-largest economy, has raised expectations in India as it sheds its socialist baggage and turns to the West for it to become a regional power.
But it has also drawn the ire of many groups who staged large protests in several cities across the country against Bush's policies. And as I was listening to Bush's radio-clips the last two days - I sorely was reminded that the US is spinning out of control with it's foreign policy program. "Times change and people change" - he muttered and gave his blessing to further an exchange on nuclear technology between the two countries. As far as I know, India has refused continuously to sign a nonproliferation document that could demystify nuclear weapon arsenals, and now Bush comes along and says "it's all gravy"!

To the 51% of world population

No I am not mad, but rather sad...

Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero was born in Caracas (Venezuela) in 1970. She began to study the piano when she was four years old. As many other child proteges she enjoyed "fame" at an early age and won several music competitions. I believe Chopin is what she plays best, but that's just me...
Anyhow, for all of you out there who haven't had a chance to listen to classical music lately - this one is a must! Not only does she play straight forward as the music is written down, but like the old masters she starts to improvise on the melodies (which was still common during Beethoven's times). Her improvisations are stunning, give it a try!

exterminate the ones who slander islam

Salman Rushdie is among a dozen writers to have put their names to a statement in a French weekly paper warning against Islamic "totalitarianism".
The writers say the violence sparked by the publication of cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad shows the need to fight for secular values and freedom.

"After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new global threat: Islamism," the manifesto says. "We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all."
The writers said they refused to accept that Muslim men and women "should be deprived of their rights to equality, liberty or secularity in the name of respect for culture or tradition".
They also said they would not give up their critical spirit out of fear of being accused of Islamophobia.
"Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present," the writers added, saying it is nurtured by fears and frustrations.

(cut and pasted from the BBC website)

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You want my two cents on this? Ahh, forget it ...