Gran Torino

is a revelation. I want to see it again and again.

Carl Djerassi on "Stupid" Austrian Immigration Policy

One of the many enormously successful Austrian emigré scientists, Djerassi was the mother of the anti-baby-pill and inventor of cortisone synthetication, has moved back to Vienna in old age as part of an "experiment" and published a piece on immigration policy in Der Standard yesterday. I find it spot on.

On Rick Berman

During his tenure, Berman received criticism for his approach to dramatic musical scoring. Ron Jones, a composer who worked under Berman, noted that "Ricky Berman always considered music an intrusion, a necessary evil. I now can relate to the poor composers that were brought up before Stalin for being too creative. They were made to apologize for thinking out of the Party line." Expanding on this critique, Star Trek writer David Weddle noted that he believed that the "moribund aesthetics of Rick Berman" were the "constrictions that slowly strangled the franchise."

So now JJ Abrams is rejuvinating the series (at least on the big screen). I personally fundamentally dislike JJ Abrams style. I think his focus on emotions and superficial emotional effect on the audience (rather than delivering substance and thorough character development) ruins the series experience. I would never watch an episode of Lost or Alias again, and I would always love to see an episode of (say) BSG for a second time.

Moritz Schlick

Schlick's most distinctive theoretical doctrine was to glorify rejuvenation (Verjüngung). His maxime was: "Preserve the spirit of the youth, for it is the meaning of life." Citing Schiller's Letters on Aesthetic Education (1794), Schlick equated youthfulness with play, that is, with ability to relish activity for its own sake heedless of extraneous needs. Genious always throbs with childlikeness (Kindlichkeit), as does any genuine enthusiasm. Spontaneity alone imparts meaning to live.

High School Musical 3

…does no harm.

Schmidt-Schnauze (Schmidt's Gob)

Wer mit 18 Jahren Politiker werden möchte, der kann mir gestohlen bleiben. Er soll gefälligst einen Beruf lernen und diesen Beruf ausgeübt haben, mit Erfolg ausgeübt haben. Danach kann er sich anschließend gerne politisch engagieren.

Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, interviewed by a senior class. (Die Zeit)

The Economist Asks Rob Enderle

What a failed judgement call. I don't remember any insightful published statement ever by this guy. The Economist special edition on cloud computing

Will Ferrell is Back as W.

As well as Tina Fey:

David Sedaris: Undecided

New Yorker.

The Economist on Austrian General Election

The far right has prospered most when mainstream political parties have belittled or ignored the concerns of ordinary people about such issues as immigration.

It's just that this hasn't happened here in Austria. Quite the opposite. When the success of the right-wing parties became big, the established state parties from the left and right started to emulate their anti-Ausländer politics (think Schlögl, Strasser, Fekter and others). Yet they were not presented with the expected rewards, because they didn't seem to be "authentic" in this regard, so voters continued to vote for the extreme "right".

(The "left" and "right" labels barely make sense any more; many policies of the "right" are actually left, e.g. as concerning their social policies. In fact, every party in Austria has strong left policies. The People's Party has within itself arguably the most powerful union representation of any party; Mr. Neugebauer has thus been able to block any reform effort in the public service. The Liberal Forum (if you'd like to consider a liberal party "right-wing") again hasn't made it into the parliament this time, they too ran a "left" campaign instead of demanding to seriously cut back taxes and government and liberalise markets.)

The Economist

Die Vertriebenen

Ein bezeichnendes Interview über die Ostgebiete des alten Deutschland.

Jimmy Carr Rocks (ii)

Jimmy Carr Rocks