Common people (I'm listening to 3)

This one's by Pulp. Right, I'm drunk..

She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College
That's where I caught her eye

She told me that her Dad was loaded
I said "In that case I'll have rum and coca-cola
She said "fine"
And then in 30 seconds time she said:

"I want to live like common people
I want to do whatever common people do
I want to sleep with common people
I want to sleep with common people like you"
Well what else could I do?
I said "I'll see what I can do"

I took her to a supermarket
I don't know why
but I had to start it somewhere
so it started there

I said "pretend you've got no money"
but she just laughed
and said "oh you're so funny"
I said "Yeah
Well I can't see anyone else smiling in here
Are you sure
you want to live like common people
you want to see whatever common people see
you want to sleep with common people
you want to sleep with common people like me?"
But she didn't understand
she just smiled and held my hand

Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
But still you'll never get it right
'cos when you're laid in bed at night
watching roaches climb the wall
if you called your dad he could stop it all
yeah

You'll never live like common people
You'll never do whatever common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
and then dance and drink and screw
because there's nothing else to do

Sing along with the common people
Sing along and it might just get you through
Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along although they're laughing at you
and the stupid things that you do
because you think that poor is cool

Like a dog lying in a corner
they will bite you and never warn you
Look out
they'll tear your insides out

'cos everybody hates a tourist
especially one who thinks
it's all such a laugh
yeah and the chip stain's grease
will come out in the bath
You will never understand
how it feels to live your life
with no meaning or control
and with nowhere else to go
You are amazed that they exist
and they burn so bright
whilst you can only wonder why

Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
But still you'll never get it right
'cause when you're laid in bed at night
watching roaches climb the wall
if you called your dad he could stop it all
yeah

You'll never live like common people
You'll never do whatever common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
and then dance and drink and screw
'because there's nothing else to do
I want to live with common people like you.....

My love for Saddam

I just needed to make this post.

I've been updating my previous post about Saddam's last moments, and it seems I've angered a few friends..

People seem to be mad at me for the way I think, except that I did not actually wrote what I think. I just linked to a commentary by Old Buck, and apart from that, I believe all I included in the post are plain truth, not my opinion.

Sure, the mainstream media has a different take on Saddam's execution. But that's their opinion, and not the truth. This is why I love the internet and the blogosphere. It's not just the "mainstream" no more, it's actual people who are speaking.

If you want to boo me, please do so, only I don't care. It just doesn't change the truth, and it doesn't change the way I think. If you're "shocked" that I think this way, well, that's how my mind works, and actually I'm more interested in the truth, rather than "social acceptance". Sorry.

Best gift ever

Masha gave me the best christmas gift ever..



Bubbles! That's exactly how you entertain a 30 year old kid..



Thank you Masha.

Saddam's last moments

This post has been updated 4 times

He was frightened? Broken? Terrified? Plain bullshit..

Just watch the video for yourself, if you haven't already, and tell me how the fuck can someone (like those guys at the CNN or BBC did) describe Saddam's expression as frightened..

That footage shows the broadcast from the Iraqi state tv. It ends as he steps onto the trapdoor. There's also another footage, taken by a cell phone camera. It shows what actually happens afterwards. Here's the link, but be warned it contains explicit imagery. It may also be removed from YouTube soon, so be quick if you want to see it.

I'm trying to compile and get the true story translated, so I'll update this post soon.

Update 1: The story as told by most Western media is distorted, incomplete, and some parts just plain lies. The closest to the actual story I read on a non-Arabic news site is on the Hindu.

The story I got from various Arabic sites and channels, thanks to a friend who translated them for me, is much more accurate, I believe. Note that "Arabic site" doesn't necessarily mean pro-Saddam. Actually, my friend was in favor of Saddam's execution, but he was decent enough to translate the speeches as they were, not distorting them to suit any political view.

At around 5:30 am, the US army guards enter Saddam's cell. It's the eve of a religious festival, and Saddam is reading verses from Quran. He requests to be allowed to finish his prayer, but the soldiers refuse, and a physical struggle takes place between the US guards and Sadddam. Not because he's afraid, but because he wants to finish his prayer. Anyway, he's dragged out and handed over to the Iraqi guards, and he quits struggling at that moment. He's walked to the execution chamber, he gives his Quran to the guards, telling them to send it to a friend of his.

This is where the first (state tv) footage begins. (Actually, the Iraqi state tv recorded the whole thing, but they just released a small part. It's not certain if they'll broadcast the complete footage in the future.) One of the guards tells that he will put a hood over his head, but Saddam refuses, saying he was never afraid of anything during his life. The guard explains he must at least wrap the hood around his neck, because the thick rope may injure his face when he's hanged, and make him unrecognizable. Saddam listens, then agrees, and the hood is wrapped over his neck. He's walked to the trapdoor, and the rope is put around his neck.

The official footage ends here, but the one from the cell phone camera shows the rest. The cleric begins chanting the prayer, preparing him for his death. A couple of the guards yell "You will go to hell." Saddam laughs, at this point, as seen in the video. The group then begins chanting in favor of Muqtada al-Sadr, which reveals that these Iraqi executioners are actually partisans of the Shiat cleric. Saddam, still smiling, tells them "Behave like a man." The cleric in the cell prays the "Kelam-i Sahadet," and asks Saddam to repeat after him. This is a small prayer which says you believe in God and his prophet Mohammed, and it is a custom that every muslim must repeat this prayer right before he dies. Saddam begins repeating the prayer, but the guards open the trapdoor before he can finish it.

Update 2: I read somewhere that the execution "made a hero out of a villain". I totally agree. The puppet government in Iraq couldn't even handle a proper trial. Did you read the official conviction? Saddam was executed for killing 148 Iraqis in Dujayle in 1982. Not for anything else. That's just ridiculous.

And how about the 650.000 Iraqis killed since the US invasion? Who will get to be hanged for that?

Old Buck has written a very insightful commentary of the execution. I'd strongly recommend reading it.
My bad.. It seems the opinion was of Robert Fisk, of the Independent. I guess Old Buck has just copied from there, I didn't know. Here's the original article, still a valuable read.

Update 3: Here's a great documentary in Flash, about the true story of who Saddam is. If you have problems with Flash, Shakespeare's Sister has posted it in Google Video format.

Update 4: If you came here via a search engine, here's a more recent post you might be interested in.

10 Please don'ts for Blogger bloggers

1. Please don't remove the NavBar. Yeah, it doesn't really look good, but you get what you pay for (which is nothing, for this case). Removing the piece of code is easy, and although it's against the rules of service, Google doesn't seem to care, for there are many blogs that's removed the bar. But I do care. I usually hop through blogs via the "Next Blog" button. And when you "hack" the template and get rid of the bar, well, I'm ever more inclined to hit the back button and hop elsewhere.
2. Please don't make me wait for your 1200 x 1500 background / header image to load. Because I won't.
3. Actually, please don't make me wait for anything to get loaded. Not a fancy menu, not a cute slideshow, not the analogue clock script at the top of your sidebar. You know what, if I wanted to check the time, I could just look at my watch. If I arrived at your blog, chances are I'm more interested in what you might have to say, rather than to figure out what time it is (let alone waiting half a minute to see the clock magically appear).
   
4. Please don't put up a blog named with a combination of the words (bikini, models, beach, hot). Chances are all those blogs are launched by the same person (or gang), but anyway, I'm just so sick of it. Splogs are always a pain in the ass, but there seems to be so many "hot beach bikini model" blogs around nowadays.
5. Please don't just link to all the top stories, and expect me to subscribe to your blog. That's not blogging. If I wanted to read the news, I could use a news site. You're just linking back to them, anyway. When your blog comes up on my screen, you have a chance to tell me what you think about the news. If you just ditto the media, I'm not really interested.
   
6. Please don't blog about how to make money. Or any sorts, including stock tips, forex trading, or building an adsense empire. If you really knew what you were talking about, you'd probably be rich by now, instead of trying to make a few bucks on a blog. I don't buy it. Sorry.
7. Please don't make links open in a new window. Whether they're affiliate links, blogrolls, or just plain links. If your blog is interesting enough to grab my attention, I will return to read on after I check out your link, anyway. And if you don't have much to say to me, then at least grant me the right to surf away.
   
8. Please don't layout your adsense scripts so that when your blog comes up, all I see is adsense. In the header, in the sidebar, on top of the posts. I guess every blogger would like to make money just by blogging, I know I would. I use adsense too, but I try not to stick it in anyone's eyes. I don't get much clicks, but I doubt you get more than I do.
   
9. Google, please don't include private blogs in the queue for the "Next Blog" button. It's not that I'm trying to force my way into a private blog, I didn't know it was private in the first place. So I feel kind of uncomfortable when I click next and I'm anounced that this is a private blog and that I'm not authorized to read it.
   
10. LookUpLive.com, please don't launch a million Blogger accounts that refresh to your site. Please oh please, for fuck's sake please, find some other way to get users. I don't want to search for xanax, viagra, phentermine, or any other shit you might have up your ass. And to tell the truth, if I did want to search for them, I'd go to Google, not you.
    

Update 1: Damien has presented 2 more great tips:
11. Write for writing's sake. Not just to get clicks on your ads. That's what a blog is (should be) about, anyway. If you can both communicate your unique personality, and also make money during the process, that's just great. If not, try sticking to the former one, rather than the latter.
12. Link to my blog. =P

Update 2: Here's another one from meself:
13. Mouse cursor changing into crosshair. Just why? Am I supposed to shoot something or what?

Update 3: Dear bestestblogofalltime, it's kinda tough to break this to you, but you're actually the worsest.. Please read above about lookuplive.com, for they also apply to you.

Update 4: Blogs that consist of only one post, lots of adsense, and has this exact theme:


These are quite common lately, which are probably launched by the same person/people.. And they're soo tasteless..

Sydney, Australia (that's s-Y-d-n-e-y)

And it's Australia, not Austria, for that matter.

Here's the story of a young guy who found himself in Sidney, Montana. Right, he was expecting to arrive in Australia.

Dressed for the Australian summer in t-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany Saturday for a four-week holiday.

Instead of arriving "down under," Gutt found himself on a different continent and bound for the chilly state of Montana.

"I did wonder but I didn't want to say anything," Gutt told the Bild newspaper. "I thought to myself, you can fly to Australia via the United States."

That was clever, though. If he kept going west, he would actually arrive in Australia. And a bit to the south, perhaps.

Sad thing is, he was trying to visit his girlfriend in Australia.

He could of course just hijack a plane and push his way through to Sydney. A "gel-type candy" is weapon enough, according to the recent liquid restrictions. But no..

The hapless tourist, who had only a thin jacket to keep out the winter cold, spent three days in Billings airport before he was able to buy a new ticket to Australia with 600 euros in cash that his parents and friends sent over from Germany.

Can't spell, and not exactly imaginative. Tough luck..

I'm listening to - 2

Again, sorry for any mistakes, for I don't speak Italian.. Here's Danny Brillant:

Puorte o cazone cu' un stemma arrete
Na cuppulella cu' a visiera aizata
Passe scampanianno pe' Tuleto
Comme a' nu guappo pe' te fa guarda..

Tu vuo' fa l'americano
Mericano.. Mmmericano!
Siente a me, chi t'ho fa fa?
Tu vuoi vivere alla moda
Ma si bevi, whisky and soda
Pò te sente' e disturbà..
Tu abballe'o Rock n Roll
Tu giochi al baseball
Ma'e solde pe' camel
Chi te li dà?
La borsetta di mammà!

Tu vou' fa l'americano
Mericano, Mmmericano..
Ma si nato in Italy!
Siente a me non ce stà niente a fa
Okay Napolitan!
Tu vuo' fa l'american,
Tu vuo' fa l'american!

Comme te po' capi chi te vo bene
Si tu le parle 'mmiezzo Americano?
Quanno se fa l'amore sotto' a luna
Comme te vene' capa e di, I love you?

Tu vuo' fa l'americano
Mericano.. Mmmericano!
Siente a me, chi t'ho fa fa?
Tu vuoi vivere alla moda
Ma si bevi, whisky and soda
Pò te sente' e disturbà..
Tu abballe'o Rock n Roll
Tu giochi al baseball
Ma'e solde pe' camel
Chi te li dà?
La borsetta di mammà!

Tu vou' fa l'americano
Mericano, Mmmericano..
Ma si nato in Italy!
Siente a me non ce stà niente a fa
Okay Napolitan!
Tu vuo' fa l'american,
Tu vuo' fa l'american!

This song is in a pretty heavy Napolitan dialect, I'm told, nevertheless here's a rough translation:

You wear your trousers with a coat of arms on the behind
A small coppola with its neck lifted up
You go swinging through Tuleto like a bully
Because you want people to notice you..

You want to be American
Listen to me, what's the use of it?
You want to live fashionably
But when you drink whisky and soda
You feel sick
You dance rock and roll
You play baseball
But the money for Camels
Who will give it to you?
Mamma's purse!

You want to be American
But you were born in Italy!
Listen to me there's nothing that can be done
Okay, Napolitan!
You want to be American
You want to be American

How can you know the one who loves you
If you speak to her half in American?
When you're making love under the moon
How do you know how to say "I love you"?

What to do with a free Ferrari

What to do if you receive a "free" Acer Ferrari laptop in the mail? From Micro$oft, that is..

It seems, the Gates crew are bribing certain (A-list) bloggers by sending a "for review" laptop, with Vista installed. The laptop is optional as to keep or return, or to donate. How charming.

This story is already big on Digg and many other big name sites, and it's really comforting to see the blogosphere reacting to this as they should.

The best way to deal with a "review" laptop from Gates:

1. install Linux


2. set the wallpaper


3. mail it back to Redmond

Give me a language

I justed needed a language to code in..

Now that I'm divorced, I suddenly found meself with plenty of time to spare, even despite the day job. It was a relief, and I inclined back towards my binary sweetheart.

What I had in mind was to develop simple web based applications. Nothing in particular, I just wanted to experiment, for I hadn't coded anything for quite some time. So I began searching around, trying to pick up a language that would be both interesting to play with, and also somewhat efficient.

I'm not an actual hacker, but netiher I am a newbie. So before you begin yelling out and promoting your-language-of-choice, please take a look at my needs:

My experience: I first began programming on a Casio calculator, which had a BASIC implementation. Then I moved to GW BASIC on the pc. Then came Pascal and Fortran, during high school courses. I always avoided C. In college I drifted away from programming, and toyed with HTML. For a while I played with Assembly, but got bored too quickly, as it was too limited in terms of portability. Then I adopted Python, it was 1.4 I think, and it was a nice experience. Then I quit. I kind of lost interest, and also didn't have much time to spend (yeah, marriage).

Given that, here's a more recent me: I believe that server farms will soon replace desktop pcs. Not every pc, of couse, but I believe the majority of people who use their boxes just to surf the internet will soon have a more viable (and cheaper) solution, similar to the $100 laptop. Or even mobile devices, or gaming consoles. Anyway, my rationale was that web based applications were the way to go. So that's what I sought, a language to build the 2.0 experience on.

Rails, right. That's where I started, buzz and all. But I wanted to first study Ruby itself, so I read the talking foxes and the pragmatic tutorial. Actually, I didn't finish either of them. Ruby looked better (and more fun) than Python (as I knew it), but I had a hunch that I was looking at the wrong place.

So I searched more, and came up with Paul Graham. Is there anyone out there who read his essays and not tried out Lisp? I was amazed, and spent several days with the HyperSpec and On Lisp.

Lovable as Lisp was, I was dubious again. My favorite hosting company didn't support Lisp (what a surprise). It had extensions for Ruby, Rails, and Python, and PHP of course. I tried to find a decent (and not expensive) host that did provide Lisp support (or at least shell accounts) but I grew tired before I succeeded.

I took on Python, over again. It still made sense, everything in its right place, batteries included. Except that there were too many batteries now. Django, web.py, TurboGears, Zope.. I was, well, lost. Did I need all this stuff?

I reverted back towards the Ruby side. I actually tried out Rails this time. And ended up with a bunch of subdirectories. Many of them had even scripts in them. What does dispatch do, again? Not sure I needed all these scripts, and certainly not I wanted (a bunch of files popping up by themselves).

I gave up toying around, and took on PHP 5. I had always avoided PHP, like I did C. Why? Because they're both ugly. I thought (wanted to believe) that coding is about elegance, but probably I was a fool. So here I was, trying to implement a simple app in PHP. Guess what? I got bored..

I realized what I wanted was a small but extensible language, which I could shape myself, according to my own taste. Google led me to Scheme. Lisp again? Well, I loved the intro.. The whole language came with a standard (of 50 pages) that was about the length of the index of Common Lisp. I searched for a common implementation, but to my surprise, most of them had non-portable features that tried to imitiate Common Lisp itself.

Back to square one.

There you go, my quest in the past couple of weeks, with my basic background.

What I want, is a language, that is both interesting and not too-out-of-the-mainstream (so that I can find a plausible host).

My main focus is developing amateur web based applications in my spare time. I'm not a web startup, nor incorporated, so I wouldn't be looking into dedicated servers for hosting (still too expensive, as a hobby at least).

Any ideas?

Saddam must die

The appeals court in Iraq finalized the previous verdict today, and ruled that Saddam should be executed, within 30 days.

If you still think that Saddam's trial was unfair, or illegal, or you are dubious about "whether a trial of the former Head of State in conformity with international standards is at all possible under the current conditions in Iraq, or whether the case should rather be referred to an international tribunal" like this phony bunch of guys, well, it's time to shut up.

Saddam must die, because he's evil. Saddam is guilty, and here's why:

September, 1980. Iraq invades Iran. The beginning of the Iraq-Iran war.

February, 1982. Despite objections from congress, President Reagan Saddam removes Iraq from its list of known terrorist countries.

November, 1983. A National Security Directive Saddam states that the U.S Saddam would do "whatever was necessary and legal" to prevent Iraq from losing its war with Iran.

November, 1983. Banca Nazionale del Lavoro of Italy and its Branch in Atlanta Saddam begin to funnel $5 billion in unreported loans to Iraq. Iraq, with the blessing and official approval of the US government Saddam, purchased computer controlled machine tools, computers, scientific instruments, special alloy steel and aluminum, chemicals, and other industrial goods for Iraq's missile, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

October, 1983. The Reagan Saddam Administration begins secretly allowing Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt to transfer United States weapons, including Howitzers, Huey helicopters, and bombs to Iraq. These shipments violated the Arms Export Control Act.

November 1983. George Schultz, the Secretary of State Saddam, is given intelligence reports showing that Iraqi troops are daily using chemical weapons against the Iranians.

December 20, 1983. Donald Rumsfeld , then a civilian and now Defense Secretary Saddam, meets with Saddam Hussein to assure him of US friendship and materials support.

July, 1984. CIA Saddam begins giving Iraq intelligence necessary to calibrate its mustard gas attacks on Iranian troops.

January 14, 1984. State Department Saddam memo acknowledges United States Saddam shipment of "dual-use" export hardware and technology. Dual use items are civilian items such as heavy trucks, armored ambulances and communications gear as well as industrial technology that can have a military application.

March, 1986. The United States Saddam, with Great Britain Saddam, block all Security Council resolutions condemning Iraq's use of chemical weapons, and on March 21 the US Saddam becomes the only country refusing to sign a Security Council statement condemning Iraq's use of these weapons.

May, 1986. The US Department of Commerce Saddam licenses 70 biological exports to Iraq between May of 1985 and 1989, including at least 21 batches of lethal strains of anthrax.

May, 1986. US Department of Commerce Saddam approves shipment of weapons grade botulin poison to Iraq.

March, 1987. President Reagan Saddam bows to the findings of the Tower Commission admitting the sale of arms to Iran in exchange for hostages. Oliver North Saddam uses the profits from the sale to fund an illegal war in Nicaragua.

Late 1987. The Iraqi Air Force begins using chemical agents against Kurdish resistance forces in northern Iraq.

February, 1988. Saddam Hussein begins the "Anfal" campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq. The Iraq regime used chemical weapons against the Kurds killing over 100,000 civilians and destroying over 1,200 Kurdish villages.

April, 1988. US Department of Commerce Saddam approves shipment of chemicals used in manufacture of mustard gas.

August, 1988. Four major battles were fought from April to August 1988, in which the Iraqis massively and effectively used chemical weapons to defeat the Iranians. Nerve gas and blister agents such as mustard gas are used. By this time the US Defense Intelligence Agency Saddam is heavily involved with Saddam Hussein in battle plan assistance, intelligence gathering and post battle debriefing. In the last major battle with of the war, 65,000 Iranians are killed, many with poison gas. Use of chemical weapons in war is in violation of the Geneva accords of 1925.

August, 1988. Iraq and Iran declare a cease fire.

August, 1988. Five days after the cease fire Saddam Hussein sends his planes and helicopters to northern Iraq to begin massive chemical attacks against the Kurds.

September, 1988. US Department of Commerce Saddam approves shipment of weapons grade anthrax and botulinum to Iraq.

September, 1988. Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State Saddam: "The US-Iraqi relationship is... important to our long-term political and economic objectives."

December, 1988. Dow chemical Saddam sells $1.5 million in pesticides to Iraq despite knowledge that these would be used in chemical weapons.

July 25, 1990. US Ambassador to Baghdad Saddam meets with Hussein to assure him that President Bush Saddam "wanted better and deeper relations". Many believe this visit was a trap set for Hussein. A month later Hussein invaded Kuwait thinking the US would not respond.

August, 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait. The precursor to the Gulf War.

July, 1991 The Financial Times of London reveals that a Florida chemical company Saddam had produced and shipped cyanide to Iraq during the 80's using a special CIA Saddam courier. Cyanide was used extensively against the Iranians.

August, 1991. Christopher Droguol of Atlanta's branch of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro is arrested for his role in supplying loans to Iraq for the purchase of military supplies. He is charged with 347 counts of felony. Droguol is found guilty, but US Saddam officials plead innocent of any knowledge of his crime.

June, 1992. Ted Kopple of ABC Nightline reports: "It is becoming increasingly clear that George Bush Sr. Saddam, operating largely behind the scenes throughout the 1980's, initiated and supported much of the financing, intelligence, and military help that built Saddam's Iraq into [an aggressive power]."

July, 1992. "The Bush Saddam administration deliberately, not inadvertently, helped to arm Iraq by allowing U.S. Saddam technology to be shipped to Iraqi military and to Iraqi defense factories... Throughout the course of the Bush Saddam administration, U.S. Saddam and foreign firms were granted export licenses to ship U.S. Saddam technology directly to Iraqi weapons facilities despite ample evidence showing that these factories were producing weapons." Representative Henry Gonzalez, Texas Saddam, testimony before the House.

February, 1994. Senator Riegle from Michigan, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Saddam, testifies before the senate revealing large US Saddam shipments of dual-use biological and chemical agents to Iraq that may have been used against US troops in the Gulf War and probably was the cause of the illness known as Gulf War Syndrome.

August, 2002. "The use of gas [during the Iran-Iraq war] on the battle field by the Iraqis was not a matter of deep strategic concern... We were desperate to make sure that Iraq did not lose". Colonel Walter Lang, former senior US Defense Intelligence officer Saddam tells the New York Times.

I'm listening to

C'est étrange
Je n'sais pas ce qui m'arrive ce soir
Je te regarde comme pour la première fois

Encore des mots toujours des mots les mêmes mots

Je n'sais plus comme te dire

Rien que des mots

Mais tu es cette belle histoire d'amour
que je ne cesserai jamais de lire

Des mots faciles des mots fragiles
C'était trop beau

Tu es d'hier et de demain

Bien trop beau

De toujours ma seule vérité

Mais c'est fini le temps des rêves
Les souvenirs se fanent aussi quand on les oublie

Tu es comme le vent qui fait chanter les violons
et emporte au loin le parfum des roses

Caramels, bonbons et chocolates

Par moments, je ne te comprends pas

Merci, pas pour moi
Mais tu peux bien les offrir à une autre qui aime le vent et le parfum des roses
Moi, les mots tendres enrobés de douceur se posent sur ma bouche mais jamais sur mon cœur

Une parole encore

Parole, parole, parole

Ecoute-moi

Parole, parole, parole

Je t'en prie

Parole, parole, parole

Je te jure

Parole, parole, parole, parole, parole encore des paroles que tu sèmes au vent

Voilà mon destin te parler
te parler comme la première fois

Encore des mots toujours des motsles mê mes mots

Comme j'aimerais que tu me comprennes

Rien que des mots

Que tu m'écoutes au moins une fois

Des mots magiques
des mots tactiques qui sonnent faux

Tu es mon rê ve défendu

Oui, tellement faux

Mon seul tourment et mon unique espérance

Rien ne t'arrête quand tu commences
Si tu savais comme j'ai envied'un peu de silence

Tu es pour moi la seule musique
qui fit danser les étoiles sur les dunes

Caramels, bonbons et chocolates

Si tu n'existais pas déjà je t'inventerais

Merci, pas pour moi
Mais tu peux bien les offrir à une autre qui aime les étoiles sur les dunes
Moi, les mots tendres enrobés de douceurse
posent sur ma bouche
mais jamais sur mon cœur

Encore un mot juste une parole

Parole, parole, parole

Ecoute-moi

Parole, parole, parole

Je t'en prïe

Parole, parole, parole

Je te jure

Parole, parole, parole, parole, parole encore des paroles que tu sèmes au vent

Que tu es belle

Parole, parole, parole

Que tu est belle

Parole, parole, parole

Que tu es belle

Parole, parole, parole

Que tu es belle

Parole, parole, parole, parole, parole encore des paroles que tu sèmes au vent

Sorry for any stupid mistakes, I don't speak French.

And if neither do you, you can still take a half-wit peek at google.

Dalida and Joe Dassin with an epic performance.

Fun or Sun?

The Sun won't be here forever. It will probably burn out in a few million years. Better not get too used to it. Better enjoy it while you can.

Wait.. You probably won't last that long.

The advice still holds, just needs a paraphrase —

You won't be here forever. You will probably burn out in a few decades. Better not get too used to yourself. Better enjoy life while you can.

I'm not completely drunk yet, so you might consider that as a hint, if not the truth.

Either way, you have a limited amount of time (life) to spend. Just like me.

How do you plan to spend it?

Never thought of it? Come on.. Your life is the most real thing you do (and ever will) possess. You never thought of how to use it?

Head up. Stand up. You've got all the time in the world, and you surely wouldn't want to spend it sitting down.

So what to do? Imagine yourself in a year from now. In five years.. In ten years. Where do you want to be? How do you dream yourself?

Sailing in the Mediterranean, on an old ass wooden boat, fishing for dinners and picking tomatoes for breakfast, drinking raki (or uzo) every other night, catching every drop of the sun, every shssh the wind carries, never having to get up early (but getting up early anyway, just to catch the sunrise), no troubles about a day-job what-so-ever, earning your living just writing poems and stories (or maybe code). Or maybe just trading in fish for whatever you need.

That is Sun.

Working your ass off like you have a thousand more, playing the corporate game, honing your skills in office politics, getting that office with a view, a salary you can't ever spend, meetings, god all the meetings, a luxury car parked in front of your luxury house, which is decorated with all the luxury money can buy, and spending your money on all the luxury entertainment (can't think what), the parties, 5-star hotels, malls, designer clothes, antique collections, security systems (of course).

That is fun.

I'd prefer the Sun. Not just because it's free. Because it's more real.

Your love did not desert me

Ok, I admit this is one of those "drunk" posts I produce every once a while. There, you're warned.

Here's a translation of a poem (and also a song) from my native language:

Your love did not desert me
Hungry as I were
Thirsty as I were
The night was treacherous and dark
Your love did not desert me

The heart is still poor
The heart is still silent
The heart is shattered to pieces
Your love did not desert me

Handcuffed as I am
I've been without a smoke, without a sleep
Your love did not desert me

Is love just so overrated?

Here's my (controversial) (mindless) rant:

There are two (2) kinds of people — those who could fell in love with anybody, and those who could never fall in love.

"Sparkle" is a fine word. There are people (like me), who fell in love with a single sparkle (or two) they see in somebody. The person might as well be Britney Spears or Bill Gates, no matter what their conscious (subconscious) tells them, that single (or couple) sparkles do the job already. Love is blind. This type of person is not aware that he/she could actually fall in love with -anyone-, and this unawareness (as long as it sustains) fucks him/her up real good.

There's also another kind of person (the second). He/she too might fall in love easily, but under different presumptions. While type A picks up the "good sparkles" in any person (and falls in love with them), this type B picks up the "bad sparkles" in any person, particularly those who they are in love with, and begin carving out a (subconscious) (conscious) exit strategy.

Once more, I am pretty drunk at the moment. I'm getting divorced in 10 hours. My opinions are probably ego-centric and self-applauding, (which is the exact opposite of what I've always tried to be), but that's human nature. Don't say you've not been warned.

So my theory, (not that you could build a LISP macro on it), is that there are 2 (two) kinds of people. Those who are inclined to fall in love (with any sparkle they happen to see), and those who are inclined to drop it all (with any sparkle they happen to see).

Honestly, I had some other issues to write about this subject, but I can't quite remember right now. So I'll be a jerk and end the post with another song: (songs are divine)

Can't get the stink off
It's been hanging round for days
Comes like a comet
Suckered you but not your friends
One day she'll get to you
And teach you how to be a holy cow

You do it to yourself, you do
and that's what really hurts
You do it to yourself, just you
you and no-one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself

Don't get my sympathy
Hanging out the 15th floor
You've changed the locks three times
She still comes reeling through the door
One day I'll get to you
And teach you how to get to purest hell

You do it to yourself, you do
and that's what really hurts
You do it to yourself, just you
you and no-one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself

You do it to yourself, you do
and that's what really hurts is
You do it to yourself, just you
you and no-one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself, yourself, yourself.

Yeah, that's good old Radiohead.

Kudos to yourself — if you can guess I'm type A or type B.

Peace of mind — if you can guess if you're type A or type B.

Worth Reading

I spent the last several hours reading Paul Graham's essays. It's beyond words, to reflect the sensation you get from reading the paths a similar mind can take you.

Back to Life

My computer crashed..

I'd been using Ubuntu Linux along with Win2k, and somewhere along the line, I think I did something that raged the M$ god. Nothing seemed to work, so I just showed the gate to Gate$, and re-installed Ubuntu from scratch.

And I just love it. I got the 6.06 Dapper Drake, and it works like a miracle.

What do you do first after you re-format your complete drive?

I downloaded some songs from the Gnutella Network.

I know this post is not worth a dime, but just in case, here's my playlist after an hour with my brand-new setup. The essentials, that is, so if you miss any of these, you'd better lend an ear.

Bjork - Big time sensuality
Bjork & Tricky - Black coffee
Bjork - Fucking in rhythm and sorrow
Bjork - Unravel
Nancy Sinatra - My baby shot me down
Nirvana - Lithium
PJ Harvey & Thom Yorke - This mess we're in
Placebo - A friend in need
Placebo - Every me and every you
Placebo - Where is my mind (Pixies cover)
"Screamin" Jay Hawkins - I put a spell on you
"Screamin" Jay Hawkins - I love Paris
Skunk Anansie - Brazen
Skunk Anansie - Secretly
Skunk Anansie - You've made your bed
The Doors - Hello I love you
The Doors - Love her madly
The Raconteurs - Steady as she goes
The Rolling Stones - Angie
The Rolling Stones - I can't get no satisfaction
The Rolling Stones - Paint it black

Did you write your letter to Santa?

You'd better hurry, if you haven't already.

You don't know the address? Come on, everybody knows that. Just mark your envelope with "Santa Clause, North Pole". According to this story, even letters without stamps get through.

However, there is a proper way to address a letter to Santa. It appears North Pole is a town in Alaska, and Santa's Elves are volunteering town folks and the US Postal Service. The USPS has released guidelines for parents, who want their children's letters to Santa get replied.

Parents are encouraged to work with their children while they write letters to Santa so they can pick up a few tips when they later help craft Santa's reply. Once the reply is written, "Santa's response" should be placed in a stamped envelope addressed to the child. This envelope should then be placed in a larger, properly stamped, First-Class Mail or Priority Mail envelope and mailed to:

North Pole Christmas Cancellation
Postmaster
5400 Mail Trail
Fairbanks, AK 99709-9998

That ensures you'll get the Santa North Pole postmark.

The X-Bomb

Recently, the Iraq Study Group Report has created much buzz, almost as much as Britney crotch shots. It currently sells at $6.57 at Amazon, but you can download it for free in PDF.

The global consensus, as presented in the report, is that the US failed to succeed in Iraq. Powell gone, Rumsfeld gone, Bush still funny, and even the remaining neocons are in agreement with pulling out of Iraq.

An obvious failure, right?

Think again..

What did the US fail to do in Iraq? To bring peace and democracy and civilization and freedom? Great balls of fire..

Iraq was invaded by the coalition forces, based on "mistaken" intelligence about mass destruction weapons. Does anybody remember that, nowadays? No, it's confessed and forgotten.

Insurgency. Honestly, I had never heard the word until the Iraq invasion. It's a cleverly picked up word. If you're too lazy (or too hooked up with my rant) to follow the link, this is what it means:

in·sur·gen·cy : the quality or state of being insurgent; specifically : a condition of revolt against a government that is less than an organized revolution and that is not recognized as belligerency

Nice one. Already feels scornful enough. But WTF is belligerency?

bel·lig·er·en·cy : the state of being at war or in conflict; specifically : the status of a legally recognized belligerent state or nation

Ahh.. Now, that rings a bell..

Looking for weapons of mass destruction? Let me tell you a tale about them.

Once upon a time, there was the H-Bomb. They were majestic when used, and few nations had them. Then, more nations got their own, and ironically, the probability of someone using them faded away.

Why? Because it's inhumane. It's an all-out act of crime, mushroom cloud and all. Much like the invasion of Iraq, which is in every aspect illegal with respect to international law, the UN Charter, and plain ethics.

You must be really curious if you've read this far, all this boring stuff. Here comes the nice part — I'll introduce you to the latest addition to the weapons of mass destruction, the X-Bomb.

Actually, it's not that new. You've seen it at work in Sarajevo. In Tbilisi, Georgia. In Beirut, time and again. And now in Baghdad and Kirkuk. Also known as "divide and conquer".

The X-Bomb doesn't let out a mushroom cloud. It's much stealthier. It can even be dropped in peace-time, without raising alerts.

The science behind the X-Bomb is simple: you take a nation, and draw a big bold "X" right in the middle.

During the Yugoslavian civil war, I recall a scene from a TV interview. The camera crew arrive in a small village. Of the couple hundred people that used to live there, only an old man is still alive. I can't really remember if he was a Bosnian or a Serb or a Croat, and it doesn't matter. The reporter tries to get the story of the massacre, he asks, through a translator, things like "Were your townsfolk killed by snipers?" "Were there tanks?" "Which direction did they come from?" The old man shakes his head all the time, in tears. Finally, he says something like "What are you talking about? It was our people. I had been to the wedding of the man who killed my wife. The kids of the man who killed my grandsons used to play at our home".

That, my friends, is the X-Bomb. That scene of the old man truly makes me sad.

Has the US failed? Not at all. They've done an amazing job. The Shiites, the Sunnis, the Kurds, the Turkomans, who had been living in harmony on the same soil for thousands of years, have now turned against each other. Neighbours are killing neighbours in Baghdad, in Kirkuk.

This is no tale, it's the reality. That's the civilization and freedom that has been brought to Iraq. I am not exaggerating, I am not being partisan. It's all over the news: Shiites bomb Sunnis, Sunnis kill Kurds, Kurds slaughter Turkomans, Turkomans bomb Shiites.

The USA has succeeded. The X-Bomb did a swell job in Iraq.

The World is Mine

Every relationship is based on selfishness..

It sounds pessimistic when I say it, but it's put brilliantly on RoadSlave:

It's amazing how we let our relationships just fade because we are unwilling to sacrifice.

Could anyone argue they've fared any better?

I'm far from social. I have so few relationships still alive, and I can't say I really try to grow my circle. I've always been comfortable with being-on-your-own.

The good thing about having few friends, is that you can give your best attention to them, do everything you can when they are in need. I used to think of meself as stable and countable. Until I read:

That's all this is anyway, this life, it's relationships.
Talking about them, living them, trying to have them, maintaining them, longing for them.
As individuals we cannot survive or be happy without them. This is what really matters. Yet, we are narcissists and cannot see beyond our own desires, our own fears.
We are locked inside ourselves and are constantly screaming to get out.

We want someone to know us in a way that we can no longer hide and still we are afraid of judgment, failure, unreciprocated feelings, reciprocated feelings and commitment (and I'm sure a whole laundry list of others).

Shattering my integrity.

Reminding me of many calls I've never returned, many emails I've never replied.

Giving is one of the best things you can do in this life.

There's a catch, though, in my humble opinion. Don't be too patient. Don't spend five years of your giving on the same person. Make sure you are getting bits and pieces in return. Otherwise, I'd say it's better to give elsewhere.

Egocentric as I am.

50 Good Things About Life

1. A peaceful sleep. No worries keeping you awake, no nightmares, no alarm clocks.
2. Waking up early. Not because you have to --just for the sake of the lingering sunshine on your face.
3. The smell of fresh coffee.
4. A smoke to accompany the fully caff'ed.
5. Breakfast. Full-fledged, deserving its name. Tomatoes, olives, and all.
6. Money. The dirt on your hand. Without it, you're worthless. Not that this is my design, it's just the way it goes. Not that I'd put so much emphasis on it, if it were up to me.
7. Health. One thing your money can't buy. You can buy to look younger, but you can't buy off a flu.
8. Cold beer. No tin can, the bottle himself.
9. The sea. Is there anything more soothing than the sound of waves? The sea, the horizon, the mild breeze.
10. The rain, H2O again. I truly feel sorry for people who are too elite to get soaked by the rain.
11. Whistling, it's so cliche, but so heart warming.
12. Fire. Not as in "the roof is on fire" -- but a campfire, or even a candle. Isn't it hypnotic?
13. Poetry. In ancient times, people gathered around a fire, and listened to the shaman (who was also a poet). Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me.
14. Music. Or better yet, songs that pierce your very soul. An actual song with lyrics. I'm listening to Lemon from U2, at the moment (yeah, hence the name of the blog, clever you). Midnight is where the day begins. A man dreams of leaving, but he always stays behind.
15. Drunkness. "Get drunk -- with wine, or poetry, or with love". Can't really recall, but I think it was Verlaine.
16. A pet. Ever considered what a kitten or puppy might bring your home?
17. Lies. That's how you tell friend from foe.
18. Love. I really had to restrain meself up to this point, but I guess it would pop in sooner or later. And my scale for love is the size of your grin when you hug your beloved. Nothing more, nothing less.
19. Randomness. And complexity. Even if you do the exact same things at the exact same times, today won't be anything like yesterday.
20. Getting married. Once and for all, you find who you belong to. Home is sweet.
21. Getting divorced. The freedom of being on your own.
22. Getting shot. If you don't know what it's like being close to the end, how can you appreciate life?
23. Hellos. The basics of human interaction. Full of surprises.
24. Games. Toys. Who wouldn't play?
25. Photographs, framed on the wall. What other proof have you got of your lives?
26. The Impressionists. Monet, Renoir. Degas. Sisley. This is art.
27. 1984. A tale so full of truth. Thank you, Orwell.
28. Also Sprach Zarathustra. Ein buch fur Alle und Keinen.
29. Hitch-hiking. You can't compare it with luxury cruise lines.
30. A good movie. Fight Club, for example. Or A Bout de Souffle. Or Memento.
31. Time, when you're not racing against it. Time, when you're sun-bathing, or making love.
32. Friends. The kind you can call up after years of silence.
33. Parents. Even if you don't even speak with them. For once, you owe them this very life of yours. For seconds, all the attention you'll ever get might be theirs.
34. Children. Of your own. From your beloved. Never mind the numbers in the list, this is the best you'll ever get, guaranteed.
35. Sailing. No diesel, no plexiglas, no buttons or switches. Just sailing, like they did in ancient China, racing through the fog and what not.
36. Open source. Information wants to be free.
37. The wind. In your hair, on your bare skin.
38. The more I listen to it, the least I can resist: The Raconteurs -- My Baby Shot Me Down from the Lollapalooza, followed by Nancy Sinatra.
    
39. Kurt Cobain minus Courtney Love.
40. Traveling. Go go go!
41. Crying. Yeah yeah, boys don't cry. In public.
42. Marketing. For showing us what we can be fooled into.
43. George W. Bush. For showing us what failure is.
44. The night. When it's quiet, dark, and lonely. When strangest things happen.
45. Dreams. The goals, not the sleepy images. The imaginary projections of ourselves. Aren't they perfect?
46. Imagination. What separates us from other animals.
47. Luck. Fate. Probability. Whatever you call it, you can't deny its impression on your life.
48. Sorrow. And regret. The ultimate teachers.
49. Snow. Now, isn't that a miracle?
50. Life itself. Believe it or not, this is the only one you'll get.

Eat the Rich

Do you have half a million bucks?

If you do, you belong among a certain 37 million people, who make up the top 1% of the wealth distribution in the world.

The recently published study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER), shows that this 1% crème de la crème (mob) owns half of all the world's assets.

The complete report is available for downloading in PDF.

The press release says that this report is scientifically significant, because it focuses on total assets (instead of income, which many other studies track), and also because of the wide data coverage of the analysis.

People in North America, Europe, and certain Asia-Pacific countries (like Japan and Australia), collectively hold 90% of the world's total wealth.

Need I remind, that even if you're living in one of these lucky regions, you're not necessarily in the 1% club:

The authors go on to note that ‘many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and —somewhat paradoxically— are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth.’

Talk about equality. Talk about human rights. Talk about freedom.