Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat), fights to for survival in a Force 10 storm in mountainous seas the Bay of Biscay, the day after the start of the VELUX 5 Oceans solo round the world yacht race
I used to have a classic wooden yacht. The forecast for today promised winds of up to 24 m/s, which is about 14 m/s more than I would like to experience in a small sailboat. I guess the real sailors are just itching to get out to the sea today though.
EDIT: The wind speeds on the western coast of Sweden reached 32 m/s last night.
A superdollar is an almost perfect counterfeit of a United States banknote believed to be produced in North Korea. The United States government has outlined two reasons behind the North Korean distribution scheme: as a source of income and to undermine the U.S. economy. They have been circulating since the late 1980s.
North Korea calls the accusations “sheer lies” and accuses the U.S. of using the issue as a pretext to war.[1][2] Recently, North Korea accused the CIA of manufacturing the superdollar themselves to undermine the North Korean government.
The notes
The notes are made with the highest quality ink and paper, designed to recreate the various security features of United States currency, such as the red and blue security fibers; the security thread; and the watermark; even experts need to study a note intensively before determining if it is a forgery. Officially they are known as the PN-14342 family, after the classification system the Secret Service uses. The notes are printed using the intaglio and typographic printing processes.
Remember To Live and Die in L.A.? Ahh, I never knew that I would reminisce the 80’s as the good old times. Michael Mann sued the director William Friedkin for plagiarism of Miami Vice, by the way.
The Eucharist or Communion or The Lord’s Supper, is the rite that Christians perform in fulfilment of Jesus’ instruction, recorded in the New Testament, to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. Jesus gave his disciples bread, saying “This is my body,” and wine, saying “This is my blood.” Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is present. The word “Eucharist” is also applied to the bread and wine consecrated in the course of the rite.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush regrets using the word “crusade,” with all its historical connotations of religious war, to describe his campaign against terrorists, his spokesman said Tuesday.
Bush only meant to say that this is a “broad cause” to stamp out terrorism worldwide, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
“I think to the degree that that word has many connotations that would upset many of our partners or anybody else in the world, the president would regret if anything like that was conveyed. But the purpose of his conveying it is in the traditional English sense of the word, it’s a broad cause,” said Fleischer.
Evangelical Christians were one of the biggest backers of Iraq war. Interestingly, there are several thousand muslims serving in the US Army. Some of them have died while serving in Iraq.
Suddenly the title, phone number and e-mail on your business card seem more familiar than the ones you used to have before the job. You know your colleagues better than your neighbours or relatives. All of a sudden you are forty years old and there is a reputation, a family and a mortgage to take care of. No more art projects, no more eccentric acquaintances, no more risky business.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
A career is a path, but so is life. Sometimes they are parallel, but sometimes they seem to split into different, unknown directions and you can’t really see into the hazy future to see if they are about to join again. It is at moments like that when you have to ask yourself: Do I really believe in the values of the organization I am working for? What is the difference between being a human being and a human resource? Will my final bottom line be written on my tomb stone or on my last tax report?
As you can see, I’m slowly emerging from a mid-thirties crisis and smoothly transitioning to a pre-forties crisis. I’ve once again been dreaming about a number of alternative, hippier lifestyles.
My friendly local cineplex Kinopalatsi had a 5 euros per movie discount day yesterday. I picked the new Finnish wuxia drama Jadesoturi ( Jade Warrior ) over Al Gore’s Inconvenient truth. I plan to see Gore’s movie at a later date though.
The Jadesoturi production is has a unique background. As funny as it may sound, it is a Finnish/Chinese/Estonian co-production mixing kung-fu, elements from the Finnish national saga Kalevala, Kaurismäkian dialogue, superb visual effects and a love story spanning several millenniums. No matter how you look at it, it is an extremely challenging and, in a way, inexplainably brave concept for a movie.
I deliberately avoided looking at too many teasers or reading spoilers about the movie. There is quite a publicity campaign around the film involving merchandising (including a Kalevala Koru pendant), a fancy web site, an irc-galleria campaign etc. The movie is being distributed in China with 150 copies!
Well, it’s easy to be sceptic and subconsciously I expected it to be some sort of overproduced special effects lollapalooza with a lot of artistic compromises being made here and there for the sake of financial reasons. I was happily surprised to notice that film was obviously a labor of love and there was plenty of artistic vision, skill and integrity to be seen. It is not an easy movie for the viewer. The plot is complicated and there are obscure elements of folklore and fantasy from two different cultures and traditions being mixed. Some people left the theatre early and I can’t really blame them. They were probably expecting some sort of high speed action packed martial arts movie. What it in fact is, is a love story. To connesseurs of wuxia this is hardly a surprise.
Tommi Eronen has been praised for his admirable work playing two roles and I tend to agree with some of the other reviewers who pick him out as the best actor in the movie. It is, however, a balanced cast and the rest of the artists do solid performances as well.
The visual effects were excellent and with my modest CGI artist background, I would even say that they are one of the best parts of the movie. All in all, it is an ambitious project and it is a great stepping stone and source of inspiration for other aspiring filmmakers in Finland. Although it might not be the most enjoyable or approachable movie you see this year, I still recommend that you go and see it. If for nothing else, for support of creativity and boldness in our small, Northern country. Four shining stars out of five.
There was an opportunity to get your body composition analyzed at the Viikki campus of biological sciences for a mere 5 euros today. I was super excited to read all the information on the printout. I was especially happy to hear that all my values were within normal tolerances. Though the machine did have the nerve to suggest that I should increase my muscle mass by 5 kilograms! That’s the equivalent of about two human babies! Where on earth am I supposed to put all that mass!? Well, I guess I’ll have to find a personal trainer.
Body composition analysers are frequently used to programme and monitor obesity treatment, for applications in nephrology, endocrinology as well as for medical rehabilitation and general fitness training. The InBody range of body composition analysers provides information about intra- and extra-cellular water, fat, protein and minerals. The system applies Direct Segmental Measurement (DSM) defining the body as five different cylinders, i.e. four limbs and a trunk, and measuring the impedance of each part separately. It is, furthermore, possible to examine the segmental development of the subject. In body composition analysis, it is most critical that the trunk section be accurately measured. Though the trunk is the largest of the five body segments, its impedance value is about 20 ohm, the lowest among the five parts. Hence, a difference of 1 or 2 ohm can significantly affect the result.
I contemplated about writing about the death of game arcades or the sleep behaviour of dolphins this morning, but after seeing the founders of the company that was sold yesterday to Google for 1600000000 dollars, may I present my first YouTube blog entry ever: Two Kings.
To put this into perspective, consider this: YouTube has a staff of 67 employees and it was founded in 2005. It had an initial investment of $3,5 million by Sequoia Capital.
Answer honestly.. Would you give $3,5 million to two jokers whose business idea can be summed up with one sentence: “it’s a video sharing web site that converts your uploaded videos to flash video files”?
To quote my favorite master of modern poetry, Lordi: “The jokers soon’ll be the new kings”.
After having found the excellent Hel Looks Helsinki street fashion site, I’ve been increasingly interested in the fashion scene. Our flat in Barcelona was located near the artisan area with several designer stores and I couldn’t resist the temptation to buy a new blazer by Modern Amusement.
I don’t like ties and I practically never wear them. Cufflinks are another one of those strange, useless fashion accessory inventions that I never fully understood. Out of curiosity (and a desire to upgrade my style), I decided to google around for a pair to complement the suit.
Fortunately there seems to be a good selection of cufflinks that are geeky enough for programmers.
Vaho Works is a company that designs and produces some truly innovative urban bags, furniture and other products that use recycled material and objects. Their gallery is at Corto Cotoners 8. I think that the item above is either a wheelchair or a child trolley. It was surprisingly sturdy considering that it is a modified shopping cart.
Another great find in the center of Barcelona is an erotic lifestyle shop, Le Boudoir. It is an ultra sensual lingerie with a very pleasant atmosphere.. velvet draped dressing rooms, feather masks and other bespoke items. Ring the buzzer at Calle Canuda 21 for entry.
