I ordered…

Once in a while (a little too often actually) I indulge myself in a spending spree on Amazon, and yesterday I ordered these items:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Search for the Perfect Meal in a Fast-food World [Paperback] by Michael Pollan

Schott’s Almanac 2007 [Hardcover] by Ben Schott (Author)

On the Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World) [Hardcover] by P. J. O’Rourke

The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World [Hardcover] by Lewis Hyde

Modern Spain, 1875-1980 [Paperback] by Raymond Carr

Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance [Hardcover] by Ian Buruma

Prêt-à-Porter [1995] [DVD] by the late Robert Altman

Arnolfini: Reflections in a Mirror [Paperback] by Jack Thomas (Author)

The Other Side Of The Bed [DVD] by Emilio Martínez Lázaro

Madrid Wallpaper City Guide (”Wallpaper” City Guides) [Paperback]

The Man’s Book [Hardcover] by Thomas Fink

These books will find their place in my Booxter-database, where I currently have entered 311 books, an estimated 15% of my total book collection. Do you think there is something I should not have ordered? Or something I forgot to order? Please let me know and I’ll extend my modest Library with your recommendations.

A post about Hair

I think the aim of this, and most other blogs, should be to provide original content and not just lame linking to or citing of other sites. But now and then I come across brilliant things I just have to share with you. Last week the two gentlemen Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were arrested because the did some guerrilla advertising in Boston. Officials found 38 blinking electronic signs promoting the Cartoon Network TV show Aqua Teen Hunger Force on bridges and other high-profile spots across the city Wednesday. The surreal series is about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. The signs had been placed in nine other cities without causing any trouble, but in Boston it led to a terror frenzy, prompting the closing of a highway and the deployment of bomb squads.

That’s the price to pay when you’re a hypochondriac god fearing country which makes a business out of terrifying its own citizens. The two surrealist pranksters were released on a $2500 bail and gave a brilliant press conference as soon as they were released. Watch the video, it is an excellent lesson in emergency communication. If only I had hair…

German history on screen

Talking about who the Germans are, and whether they are entitled to some form of national pride is a very recent topic. Last summer’s World Championship was the first time Germans were not ashamed anymore to hang out the German flag and to be proud of Germany. This week German weekly Der Spiegel started the series “How we became, what we are”. Germans are regaining confidence of their new place in today’s world, at the same time daring to face their past. Last weekend I happened to see two interesting German films. Both of them treated a different painful period of Germany’s history, although each of them differ substantially in their tone and approach.