Humor, Situations

Japan’s Biggest Elvis Fan

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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan giving an Elvis impersonation during a tour of the house of his emotional King. This must be one of the most honest moments in the life of a politian that I have ever seen. His amused audience are, besides George Bush, the former wife and daugher of Elvis. Multimedia Show image [Read More]
Astute Observations, Diary

Where is Paradise?

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The Economist reviews two books on the idea of paradise throughout human history. By historical standards, people in the industrialized countries are close to paradise in a material sense. The trick is to feel spiritually this way. The Germans have proven in the past few weeks that possessing a good national soccer team helps a image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Chinatown

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While the dialogues in Chinatown are well crafted, the drama of this detective story falls a bit flat after 30 years. Roman Polanski has a penchant for psychological stories, but his art is at a much higher level in The Pianist and Death and the Maiden. If you want a little history lesson of image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Fitzcarraldo

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Growing older has its pleasures. I was bit nervous about renting Fitzcarraldo (1982) with Klaus Kinski in the lead role. I remember seeing Kinski as a teenager in a film depicting a strange riverboat trip.  At the time I thought the film was boring and Kinski crazy. In my memory the action took place on image [Read More]
Movies, Phantasy

King Kong

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Good writing goes a long way. I have seen the famous picture of King Kong on the Empire State Building in New York many times. “Isn’t that silly. Such an ape would never climb on top of the New York skyline,” was my reaction every single time. I was never much interested in seeing image [Read More]
Books, Non-Fiction

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness

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One afternoon of my sophomore year in college my bicycle was stolen. For reasons I no longer can reconstruct, I decided not to buy another used bike, but henceforth to hitchhike to class. I met many interesting people this way: Professors, sex therapists, construction workers, mothers who wanted to recruit boyfriends for their daughters and image [Read More]
Music, The Rest

Kanye West’s “Late Registration”

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I bought my first hip hop CD, Kanye West’s Late Registration, a couple of months ago after hearing his soulful “Gold Digger.” I suspect that Mr. West does not play a single musical instrument. But this does not make him less a musical genius. West proves that most creativity lies in recombining existing material. image [Read More]