Thursday, November 8, 2007
Marketing Fiascos
*Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."
*Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick."
*Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.
*An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).
*Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese.
*Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."
*The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-la", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le", translating into "happiness in the mouth."
*When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you". Instead, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
How much would you pay for it?
The escalating value of the late Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni's canned feces was chronicled in News of the Weird in 1993, 1998, 2002 and 2004, but now in June 2007 his former colleague Agostino Bonalumi told a reporter that the project had been a hoax and that Manzoni had merely filled the cans with plaster. Manzoni created 90 small tins, and collectors had paid thousands of dollars each (making his feces worth more per ounce than gold, including once, in 1993, paying $75,000 for a tin). A spokesman for Britain's Tate gallery, which once paid the equivalent of about $35,000 for one, said that the actual content of the art is beside the point.(?)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
The history of mankind?
They say that history is the teacher of life and that whoever does not learn from his history is doomed to repeat it forever.
Giza Pyramids
The pyramids are set almost perfectly in relation to the North Pole, which tells us that they obviously knew about the North Pole, at least in a theoretical or mystical sense. The base of the Cheops pyramid forms an almost perfect square that was constructed so precisely that it is difficult to reproduce even with today’s technology. Perhaps the greatest mystery is that the pyramids are standing even today. They weigh thousands of tonnes and still did not fall through the sand to this day.
Stonehenge
The society that built it must have been, without a doubt, quite developed to be able to engage the work force on such a demanding project. When modern scientists tried to make a reconstruction of the building of Stonehenge using ancient construction means, the stones that weighed several tonnes simply fell through into the soft soil. And after somehow constructing it, the mysterious builders also managed to build it so that it could be used to follow events in the sky. This proves that they also had great knowledge in astronomy.
Moai
The mysterious statues from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), are believed to depict the predecessors of the island’s inhabitants. A society that was capable of creating such big statues should have numbered several thousands of citizens to be able to keep an army of workers. The population of Rapa Nui was never more than several thousand people, which is simply too little for such an endeavour.
The myth about dragons
The Westerners mostly see them as evil beings that like to steal sheep, incinerate crops and amass gold. The Easterners saw them as wise creatures crucial for the functioning of the world. How could people thousands of kilometres apart who did not communicate before the Middle Ages share the same myth?
Giza Pyramids
The pyramids are set almost perfectly in relation to the North Pole, which tells us that they obviously knew about the North Pole, at least in a theoretical or mystical sense. The base of the Cheops pyramid forms an almost perfect square that was constructed so precisely that it is difficult to reproduce even with today’s technology. Perhaps the greatest mystery is that the pyramids are standing even today. They weigh thousands of tonnes and still did not fall through the sand to this day.
Stonehenge
The society that built it must have been, without a doubt, quite developed to be able to engage the work force on such a demanding project. When modern scientists tried to make a reconstruction of the building of Stonehenge using ancient construction means, the stones that weighed several tonnes simply fell through into the soft soil. And after somehow constructing it, the mysterious builders also managed to build it so that it could be used to follow events in the sky. This proves that they also had great knowledge in astronomy.
Moai
The mysterious statues from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), are believed to depict the predecessors of the island’s inhabitants. A society that was capable of creating such big statues should have numbered several thousands of citizens to be able to keep an army of workers. The population of Rapa Nui was never more than several thousand people, which is simply too little for such an endeavour.
The myth about dragons
The Westerners mostly see them as evil beings that like to steal sheep, incinerate crops and amass gold. The Easterners saw them as wise creatures crucial for the functioning of the world. How could people thousands of kilometres apart who did not communicate before the Middle Ages share the same myth?
Age of man
Science claims that the first real people originated some 200,000 years ago and the first script some 6,000 years ago. From that moment, simply put, the beginning of human civilisation began. Ancient people arrive at the history scene with great and never explained knowledge of archaeology and astronomy whose origins were never established. What was never explained is the great time difference from when man originated to his technological development. If man managed to conquer the Moon in less than 10,000 years since the beginning of written history, the logical question to ask oneself is: what were we doing the remaining 190,000 years?
Science claims that the first real people originated some 200,000 years ago and the first script some 6,000 years ago. From that moment, simply put, the beginning of human civilisation began. Ancient people arrive at the history scene with great and never explained knowledge of archaeology and astronomy whose origins were never established. What was never explained is the great time difference from when man originated to his technological development. If man managed to conquer the Moon in less than 10,000 years since the beginning of written history, the logical question to ask oneself is: what were we doing the remaining 190,000 years?
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Malo grafita...
*Dzaba ste krecili!
*Kad ja tamo a ono medjutim...
*Zvoni! Kucanje ne radi.
*Kisa pada, trava 10 maraka.
*Imam problem za svako rjesenje.
*Gdje bi nam bio kraj da nije tako blizu.
*Proleteri svih zemalja - izvinite! Marx
*Kud narkoman prodje tu trava vise ne raste.
*Embargo, em sankcije.
*Restoran radi od otvaranja do zatvaranja.
*Um caruje, a Dundo Maroje.
*Slozne zene javnu kucu grade!
*Klint se Istvudom izbija.
*Smrt Klintonu, Monika narodu.
Not a joke!
As several sightings were made around Washington, D.C., of dragonfly-looking bugs hovering in the air at political events, government agencies were denying that they had released any tiny surveillance robots."I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?'" asked a college student at an antiwar rally in Washington. "They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But ... those are not insects." Several agencies and private entities admitted they were trying to develop such devices, but no one took credit for having them in the air yet.The robo-spies are expected to be used to track suspects, guide missiles or (!) find trapped survivors in building rubble.
Read the Washington Post story.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Deranged Minds
The human mind is a place where the greatest creations are made, but also where the darkest abyss hides. Nobody knows this better that artists, a special kind of people who are forced to live with their own visions and views of what we perceive as normal. The line between genius and madness has always been thin and can easily be crossed on the examples of five authors who have struggled with their demons their entire lives. Even though they have created works after which they will be remembered, in the end, they lost the battle and have disappeared in their own madness.
Jack Kerouac-One of the most respected writers of the New Continent, is famous for his cult novel On the Road, which is considered to be the pivotal book of the so called beat generation. Kerouac was a restless spirit who married three times, obsessively wrote and travelled across the USA. He ended his life in Florida in 1969. He arrived there a day earlier due to strong abdominal pain, brought on by internal bleeding and caused by liver cirrhosis. The urban legend states that he wrote On the Road in a three-week long session, with Kerouac not sleeping, but maniacally typing, haunted by amphetamines and vast amounts of coffee. Not to interrupt his writing with placing new sheets of paper, Kerouac thought to type on a large roll of paper, which reeled off over the course of these three weeks as he typed in new lines.
Marcel Proust-Although his novel In Search of Lost Time is one of the most respectable writings of the 20th century, the author himself was a great eccentric. Proust never worked because he had a huge inheritance, but he was troubled by great misfortunes in his personal life. He lost his brother and mother in a short period of time, he had no fulfilled romances and he started pining away towards the end. He had an incredible precision and sensitivity. Proust was a welcome guest in hotels because when he would like to stay in one, he would take five rooms. He would live alone in one of them, while the other four surrounding his would have to be empty in order for the writer to sleep peacefully, without any noise, heard by only him. He never left his bed in the final three years of his life, where he maniacally finished his epic work.
Robert E. Howard-US writer who invented the sword and sorcery genre, and is one of the authors whose work has become more famous than themselves. Howard is Conan the Barbarian`s father, embodied by a California governor on film. He wrote his work for various pulp magazines which boomed during the Great Depression. He suffered from a great depression himself and often contemplated suicide, but he wanted to end his life in a truly morbid fashion. After hearing about his mother being on her death bed, Howard stormed out of the house and got in the car. He took a borrowed gun from the glove compartment and shot himself in the head. Even though his father and a doctor rushed to help him, there was no saving him. He died eight hours later and his mother the next day.
Franz Kafka-The Metamorphosis and The Trial (Process) author lived in Prague, but spent his entire life writing in German. He was so fluent in the language that serves as a nightmare for translators to this very day. Not because of his ungainliness, but the craftsmanship which enabled his sentences to be a page long. His name went down in history and the term Kafkian situation is used today to describe an excruciating and unsolvable situation. Kafka was convinced he was not a good writer and before his death he requested all his work to be burned. He suffered from great depression and migraines his entire life and he tied many cures, including a novelty at the time called vegetarianism. He died of starvation and a poor condition caused by tuberculosis-devastated throat. He foresaw closed and rigid totalitarian systems in his work, which would kill his entire family in concentration camps several decades later.
Edgar Allan Poe-One of the most famous poetry writers, author of the famous The Raven is one of the most influential writers America has ever had. He pursued cryptography, journalism and mysticism. He suffered from depression and manic episodes. Poe foresaw black holes and various physics paradoxes, thus surpassing physicists for a good period of 80 years. His death is one of the most spectacular and mysterious examples in literature. When Poe appeared completely psychically lost in the streets of Baltimore in 1949, he was rushed into hospital. Still, he could not be rescued. What was surprising is that nobody could realise what the famous author died of and speculation included alcohol, a weak heart, cholera and many many others. The popular belief is that he has subcome to an apparition from his obscure stories.
Jack Kerouac-One of the most respected writers of the New Continent, is famous for his cult novel On the Road, which is considered to be the pivotal book of the so called beat generation. Kerouac was a restless spirit who married three times, obsessively wrote and travelled across the USA. He ended his life in Florida in 1969. He arrived there a day earlier due to strong abdominal pain, brought on by internal bleeding and caused by liver cirrhosis. The urban legend states that he wrote On the Road in a three-week long session, with Kerouac not sleeping, but maniacally typing, haunted by amphetamines and vast amounts of coffee. Not to interrupt his writing with placing new sheets of paper, Kerouac thought to type on a large roll of paper, which reeled off over the course of these three weeks as he typed in new lines.
Marcel Proust-Although his novel In Search of Lost Time is one of the most respectable writings of the 20th century, the author himself was a great eccentric. Proust never worked because he had a huge inheritance, but he was troubled by great misfortunes in his personal life. He lost his brother and mother in a short period of time, he had no fulfilled romances and he started pining away towards the end. He had an incredible precision and sensitivity. Proust was a welcome guest in hotels because when he would like to stay in one, he would take five rooms. He would live alone in one of them, while the other four surrounding his would have to be empty in order for the writer to sleep peacefully, without any noise, heard by only him. He never left his bed in the final three years of his life, where he maniacally finished his epic work.
Robert E. Howard-US writer who invented the sword and sorcery genre, and is one of the authors whose work has become more famous than themselves. Howard is Conan the Barbarian`s father, embodied by a California governor on film. He wrote his work for various pulp magazines which boomed during the Great Depression. He suffered from a great depression himself and often contemplated suicide, but he wanted to end his life in a truly morbid fashion. After hearing about his mother being on her death bed, Howard stormed out of the house and got in the car. He took a borrowed gun from the glove compartment and shot himself in the head. Even though his father and a doctor rushed to help him, there was no saving him. He died eight hours later and his mother the next day.
Franz Kafka-The Metamorphosis and The Trial (Process) author lived in Prague, but spent his entire life writing in German. He was so fluent in the language that serves as a nightmare for translators to this very day. Not because of his ungainliness, but the craftsmanship which enabled his sentences to be a page long. His name went down in history and the term Kafkian situation is used today to describe an excruciating and unsolvable situation. Kafka was convinced he was not a good writer and before his death he requested all his work to be burned. He suffered from great depression and migraines his entire life and he tied many cures, including a novelty at the time called vegetarianism. He died of starvation and a poor condition caused by tuberculosis-devastated throat. He foresaw closed and rigid totalitarian systems in his work, which would kill his entire family in concentration camps several decades later.
Edgar Allan Poe-One of the most famous poetry writers, author of the famous The Raven is one of the most influential writers America has ever had. He pursued cryptography, journalism and mysticism. He suffered from depression and manic episodes. Poe foresaw black holes and various physics paradoxes, thus surpassing physicists for a good period of 80 years. His death is one of the most spectacular and mysterious examples in literature. When Poe appeared completely psychically lost in the streets of Baltimore in 1949, he was rushed into hospital. Still, he could not be rescued. What was surprising is that nobody could realise what the famous author died of and speculation included alcohol, a weak heart, cholera and many many others. The popular belief is that he has subcome to an apparition from his obscure stories.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Znanje - Nemanje
U istrazivanju Geographic Society (USA) na uzorku od 300 mladih Amerikanaca izmedju 18 i 24 godine, dobijeni su porazavajuci rezultati o njihovom geografskom znanju:- 11% nije znalo obiljeziti podrucje na kojemu se nalaze SAD,
- 29% nije znalo pronaci Pacific ocean, - jedan od sedam nije znao na karti pronaci Irak,
- 35% zna da se ostrvo Marquesas iz emisije Survivor nalazi u Juznom Pacifiku
- 30% zna na karti pokazati gdje se nalazi New Jersey
- pri lociraju 10 bilo kojih drzava SAD-a, vecina (85%) je znala tacno locirati samo Californiju i Texas. Njih 51% znalo je pronaci New York.
- Na karti svijeta Amerikanci su uspjeli pronaci samo 7 od 16 trazenih drzava.
- 81 % ispitanika zna da je Bliski istok najveci svjetski proizvodjac nafte ali 24% njih zna na karti pronaci Saudijsku Arabiju.
-55% Amerikanaca znaju da je Sunce zvijezda, ali je 20% ubjedjenja da se Sunce okrece oko Zemlje.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Ah, those names
*Convicted of murder in a home invasion, Mr. Andrew S. "Junebug" Warrior (the "S" stands for Sweetie)*Discouraged by school officials from attending a Catholic school because of his name, the 5-year-old Max Hell (Melbourne, Australia)
*Arrested for stealing three rolls of toilet paper from a courthouse, Ms. Suzanne Marie Butts (Marshalltown, Iowa)
*Leading a fight in the Kenai Peninsula Borough (Alaska) Assembly to defeat a term-limit rule, Assemblyman Gary Superman
It's about time
Identity fraud is a crime in Canada, but gathering and trafficking identity information (credit card, banking and other personal data for the purposes of using it deceptively) generally is NOT. Finally, the government plans to criminalize identity theft to give police the ability to stop such activity before any fraud has actually been carried out.
National Day of Action
Anti-war demonstrators marched in a dozen U.S. cities on Saturday to call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq and a cut-off of funding by Congress. The National Day of Action, sponsored by the United for Peace and Justice coalition, attracted protesters in cities from Boston and New Orleans to Chicago and Los Angeles on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Senate's vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Leslie Kielsen, a local UPAJ organizer, said the "half a trillion" dollars spent on the war was money that could have been used for education, housing and to feed the hungry. The demonstrators, who included labor unions activists, also spoke out on issues including nuclear weapons and what some see as the increasing likelihood of U.S. military intervention in Iran over its escalating nuclear program."This is across-the-country sentiment about ending the occupation, redirecting funds for needs in this country, our attempt to get Congress to stand up and have its prerogative to cut funding, to take charge. That's our hope."
Dum spiro spero...
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Best Instrumentals
And the winner is....Booker T & the MG's
Just mentioning rock offers associations with loud singers, but some of rock`s cult bands have fantastic instrumentals which say it all – just with the help of their instruments, without a single word. The Rolling Stone magazine has formed a list of 25 favourite instrumentals, with the help of their readers.
In the very top are Pink Floyd, masters of instrumentals. When instrumentals are in question, Pink Floyd top the charts with One of These Days, taken from the 1971 Meddle album. The only line is: 'One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces'. The song`s trademark are two bass lines, played by Waters and Gilmour. The only line in the song was spoken by Nick Mason and having in mind BBC Radio 2 host at the time, Jimmy Young as Pink Floyd members were not fans of his.
Led Zeppelin’s Moby Dick also found itself among the most famous instrumentals. The song was taken from the 1969 Led Zeppelin II album and was created by only three Zeppelin members – John Bonham, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Page often listened to Bonham`s improvisations in the studio, recorded and edited them. It was allegedly called Moby Dick because Bonham`s son suggested his dad did a song as large as Moby.
In order for master of the industrial sound Trent Reznor not to be omitted, fans made an effort to enlist Just Like You Imagined from 1999. Mike Garson played the piano, who is famous for collaborating with David Bowie and the Smashing Pumpkins. The odd song was appenerly liked by many and it became the unofficial soundtrack to this year`s smash hit film “300”.
All instrumental performances from the list have their stories, while they are good concert breaks for fans, if nothing else, when you can get a beer and it is good material for the record label to complete singles.
Just mentioning rock offers associations with loud singers, but some of rock`s cult bands have fantastic instrumentals which say it all – just with the help of their instruments, without a single word. The Rolling Stone magazine has formed a list of 25 favourite instrumentals, with the help of their readers.
In the very top are Pink Floyd, masters of instrumentals. When instrumentals are in question, Pink Floyd top the charts with One of These Days, taken from the 1971 Meddle album. The only line is: 'One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces'. The song`s trademark are two bass lines, played by Waters and Gilmour. The only line in the song was spoken by Nick Mason and having in mind BBC Radio 2 host at the time, Jimmy Young as Pink Floyd members were not fans of his.
Led Zeppelin’s Moby Dick also found itself among the most famous instrumentals. The song was taken from the 1969 Led Zeppelin II album and was created by only three Zeppelin members – John Bonham, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Page often listened to Bonham`s improvisations in the studio, recorded and edited them. It was allegedly called Moby Dick because Bonham`s son suggested his dad did a song as large as Moby.
In order for master of the industrial sound Trent Reznor not to be omitted, fans made an effort to enlist Just Like You Imagined from 1999. Mike Garson played the piano, who is famous for collaborating with David Bowie and the Smashing Pumpkins. The odd song was appenerly liked by many and it became the unofficial soundtrack to this year`s smash hit film “300”.
All instrumental performances from the list have their stories, while they are good concert breaks for fans, if nothing else, when you can get a beer and it is good material for the record label to complete singles.
Watch for this one!
Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron), Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar), Babel (Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu), The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles)...) said he is not tempted to work in Hollywood, despite receiving many invitations. "The closest I got to Hollywood was a movie I did in Tijuana. And it is really close, about three hours,". He said when he selects a project he thinks about the industry it represents. Bernal is working mostly with Latin American directors. In the latest movie, Past (Hector Babenco), he plays a father whose son is kidnapped (set in Buenos Aires, which Gael considers his second home). His directorial debut, Deficit, depicts the clash of different social classes in Mexico. Bernal is now working on Blindness, with a Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) inspired by a Jose Saramago novel about a blindness epidemic that results in the collapse of society.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Church Bulletins
*The Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals.*The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water."
*The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."
*Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
*Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
*Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
*Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not come this way again," giving obvious pleasure to many in the congregation.
*Next Thursday there will be try outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
*Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
*A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
*At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
*Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
*Scouts are saving aluminium cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
*Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
*The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
*Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
*The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
*This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
*The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
*Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
*Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
*The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
*Pastor Updyke unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday with the slogan: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours”.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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