Bel Ami

Will Glahé - Bel Ami

Can we please have a motherfuckin' moment of silence? Desmond Dekker died.

I really like Nowitzki, I think it is great that a German has a very good chance of becoming the first non-American MVP in the history of the MVP (even when Ginobili would have won if he hadn't got injured two years ago), but truth to be told when he prompts quotes as the one below I will have to reconsider my position on him and maybe hope for the resurfacing of Uwe Blab.

Nowitzki was at his best — scoring 6 points in the final 1 minute 36 seconds — and could have been forgiven for singing a tribute to Hasselhoff, who attended his first playoff game and watched from 11 rows above midcourt. (Hasselhoff, the actor-turned-singer, is big in Nowitzki's native Germany, and Nowitzki recently revealed that he hums a Hasselhoff tune when he shoots free throws.)

Finally, the TV-show 'Lost' (which I have never watched) has lead to a book being published that was read as some kind of a deco on the island and it is marketed as having been written by one of the characters in the show. I so don't like this interweaving of various levels in regard to trying to sell cultural products. The only thing this will result in is that we all read the same books based on the same films that we had seen before (or vice versa, see the Da Vinci Code). I don't need two versions of the same product. Everyonce in a while it is fun to watch a film based on a good book, but then, in my opinion, that book should have passed the test of time (The Lord of the Rings) and become a classi. To publish a movie (or a book) based only one the success of its sibling in the cultural market is distasteful (or maybe better: it is distasteful that it works, that we are stupid enough to suck it up and consumate both (and yes, that includes me too, Harry Potter is all I embarrassingly have to add).

I guess the real question is, am I becoming a cynical old fart (with only 24 I might add) who cannot deal with modern culture and is longing for some glorified past in which everything was of a higher quality or do I have reason to criticise this? I sincerely believe I do have reason, because mainstream culture seriously seems to have deteriorated some and I seriously fear that this whole interweaving business, cross-platform marketing or however these advertisement guys call it, is going to lead to a pretty sad levelling of of what we watch, read and listen to.


PS:
If it is true what the Ny Times reports today, that American soldiers massacred civilian women and old men, I don't even know what to say to that. How can anyone argue that any army is inherently evil? Soldaten sind Mörder. And seriously, what kind of mess did that President make. Cannot someone try to argue with me that this invasion was a good idea? I need to let off steam. Please? Pretty, pretty please?