Reading List: Mai

Fiction: 

Douglas Coupland: Miss Wyoming.
Caitlín R. Kiernan: Silk.
Caitlín R. Kiernan: The Red Tree.
Poppy Z. Brite: Liquor.


Film: 

Dahmer (2002, David Jacobson) ***.
Control (2007, Anton Corbijn) *****.

Series: 

The Pacific (IIX-X).
Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009, Julian Jarrold), In the Year of Our Lord 1980 (2009, James Marsh), In the Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009, Anand Tucker) ****.

Music: 

Ramones: The Ramones.
Joy Division:  Substance.
The Cure: Boys Don't Cry.
The Cure: Pornography.
The Cure: Disintegration.
The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow.
The Smiths: The Queen is Dead.
Morrissey: Vauxhall and I.
Morrissey: You Are the Quarry.
Nirvana: Bleach.
Foals: Total Life Forever.
Kaki King: Junior.
The Rosebuds: Life Like.

Horse-race blogging etc..

Was mich an den Landtagswahlen im Burgenland am meisten interessiert ist eine Wählerstromanalyse. Was passiert, wenn konventionell rechte Inhalte co-opted werden und spannenderweise trotzdem die co-optende Partei und die Mitte-Rechts-Partei Stimmen verlieren (vor allem, wo offensichtlich die Grünen überhaupt nicht von potentiell enttäuschten SPÖ-Wählern profitiert haben?). Exciting. 

I had to post this.

So this is a video in which a non-red-headed Karen Gillan parodies Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl". I already mildly disliked this song when it was played everywhere in 2008, mostly because it wasn't just not a cover of the 1995 Jill Sobule song but the exact opposite of it. 

Then the wise people who create the soundtrack for the "Skins"-DVDs (they usually can't use all the songs from the original airings of the episodes for copyright-reasons, which is particularly horrible for a show that puts so much effort into having music that fits a particular scene) decided to use this song instead of the original, much more subtle one - for a scene in which two girls kiss. I KNOW, how incredibly original, etc (unless it was intended to be a clever juxtaposition of an incredibly honest emotional scene with an unelievably dishonest, awful piece of pop music). Now I dislike it considerably more, and this parody sums up why, and the fact that Amelia Pond is in it (I don't think she's singing though - I would have barely recognized her if it wasn't for the distinctively Scottish ending) makes it that much more awesome.

You say I say.

I just spent an hour or so trying to figure out whether any other news-outlet apart from the Austrian newspaper Standard had used the term "Obama doctrine" today, and somehow, weirdly, it looks like none have. The corner-stones of the strategy the article mentions seem to be identical to the Foreign Affairs essay published before the Presidential elections.

"President Obama’s first formal national security strategy describes a coming era in which the United States will have to learn to live within its limits — a world in which two wars cannot be sustained for much longer and the rising powers inevitably begin to erode some elements of American influence around the globe.
Mr. Obama argues that the United States is confident enough to live with that reality and that after nearly a decade of organizing its national security policy around counterterrorism, it must return to a broader agenda."

NY Times: New U.S. Strategy Focuses on Managing Threats, May 27, 2010

The document that contains the now semi-officially dubbed "Obama-doctrine" is the "National Security Strategy" and required by Congress. You can read the full text here. Nobody talks about it because BP still hasn't figured out how to fix the leak and the oil spill is now more than twice the size of the Exxon-Valdez-catastrophe in 1989.

Foreign-policy-wise, the German President is drawing more attention: 

"Köhler hatte am Samstag in einem Interview mit dem Deutschlandfunk gesagt, ein Land mit einer Außenhandelsorientierung wie Deutschland müsse wissen, "dass im Zweifel, im Notfall auch militärischer Einsatz notwendig ist, um unsere Interessen zu wahren, zum Beispiel freie Handelswege, zum Beispiel regionale Instabilitäten zu verhindern."

Die Presse: Wirtschaftskrieg? Präsident Köhler entfacht Afghanistan-Debatte, 27. Mai 2010

Apparently, the reference to "protecting trade routes" was aimed at piracy (not the p2p-kind), not the mission in Afghanistan.

Der Spiegel: Köhler entfacht neue Kriegsdebatte, 27. Mai 2010

Movie confirmed!!!

"After a year of speculation about the E4 show, producers today confirmed that shooting would begin in September on a film to be released in summer 2011."

The Guardian: Skins the movie: Sex, drink and drug-fuelled teen drama to be a film, May 26, 2010

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Of course I won't be there...

Two of my favourite musicians (one singer, one band) are playing in Vienna next week, and I won't be able to make it to either of these concerts (I also don't know if tickets are still available, but I thought I'd mention it anyway): 

Scout Niblett is going to play the Arena 3Raum on the 24th (supporting act are the Dum Dum Girls). I saw her play twice: the first time was probably one of the best concerts of my life, the second time was... a catastrophe (it's a different venue this time, and it wasn't her fault in the first place, but I guess nothing will ever beat seeing her with about fifty other people in the B72).

Foals are playing the Flex the day after. The new record is completely different from the first, and I'd be really curious to see whether they'll play songs like "Cassius". I've heard good things about their concerts from people so far.

"You with your friggin dogs"

[via i09]

Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes pitch a Sitcom about the Rikers, and I get all teary-eyed and nostalgic.

Other awesome things that happened: Rob Lowe ("The West Wing") and Natalie Morales ("The Middleman") joined the cast of "Parks and Recreation", but the show itself will sadly move to the mid-season next year, Stephanie Hunt, who was missing from the second half of "Friday Night Lights" this season (she says she will be in the final season though), is going to join the cast of "Californication, "Heroes" got cancelled but might return for a final movie feature, the final episode of "Lost" is coming up but the only time I really enjoyed this show lately was when all the regular cast members were missing (Allison Janney was awesome though, and inspired a "The West Wing"-rewatch) and the American version of "Skins" Bryan Elsley is working on (leaving his son Jamie Brittain in charge of the fifth British season) was picked up for a 10-episode run by MTV. Oh, and "Daria" came out on DVD in the US last week, but apparently some essential parts of the soundtrack are missing, once again making the illegal option slightly more appealing plus it will never ever be available over here anyways. It's nice to see people talking about the show again, and comparing it to current shows about teenagers, once again proving that mankind does not always evolve (no, Joss Whedon did not single-handedly fix all the issues I have with "Glee", also because he only directed).

[insert joke]

"Erst vergangene Woche war Papst Benedikt XVI. in Portugal zu Besuch gewesen. Während seines Aufenthalts hatte das katholische Kirchenoberhaupt Homosexuellen-Ehen und Abtreibungen als einige der "heimtückischsten und gefährlichsten" Bedrohungen bezeichnet, denen die Welt gegenüberstehe."

DerStandard: Überraschendes Ja zur Homosexuellen-Ehe, 18. Mai 2010

...

...

....

.....

A close second: nuclear bombs, climate change, HIV, and adults who use their position of power to beat and abuse children. Also: SHUT THE F*** UP.

Empfehlung

Foals - This Orient

"No return to that restless place / you've reached it, you've found your grace"

"Total Life Forever", Nachfolgealbum zu "Antidotes" (2008), veröffentlicht am 10. Mai.

They got it wrong! Let them try again!

"Mr Drax suggested Mr Cameron should have held back from a pact with Mr Clegg's party. "Then we'd have another general election – in a matter of weeks maybe – and I think if that had happened we'd have stormed home. [The electorate] would have seen first hand the consequences of a hung parliament and that would have helped people make a stronger choice."
Ian Liddell-Grainger, Tory MP for Bridgwater, said the coalition would do well to last two years. "I think if it lasts a couple of years, this Government has done well. The Lib Dems will find it more difficult to take criticism than we will. Their history of being in government is pretty sad," he said."

The Independent: First cracks in coalition as Tories query Europe and vote reform policies, May 14, 2010

What a beautiful way of saying: "we were not happy with your choice, please try again", or, the struggles and tribulation of a former two-party system slowly turning into a multi-party system. As Naomi Campbell (the other one) put it so eloquently: deal with it.

Yeah, I'm re-watching "The West Wing"

In the first season of "The West Wing", President Bartlet has to appoint a Supreme Court Justice. At first, he goes for a candidate with an incredible record, one that he is likely to get past a Congress with a Republican majority. The plan fails when an old, anonymous paper is discovered in which the candidate questions that privacy is a constitutionally protected right. The confirmation process for judicial candidates usually gives the opposition party a lot of room to score political points - which Obama already went through once with Sonia Sotomayor, when he still had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. His candidate to replace John Paul Stevens is the dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, who has never served a judge (which is not unusual but hasn't happened in a couple of years).

"In fact, Kagan has no obvious paper trail that makes for sound-bite attacks. Her academic articles are ponderous and abstruse, not Fox News fodder. And she has managed to work in both the Obama and Clinton administrations without marking herself indelibly as a liberal. That turns her lack of judicial experience into an asset. True, she's not an outsider in the mold of, say, Earl Warren or Sandra Day O'Connor—she doesn't bring real-world political experience, as they did."

Slate: Untried, Untested, and Ready, May 10, 2010

Elena Kagan's experience is an asset and might become a problem. The Republican opposition to her inexperience seems to be less threatening for the Democrats than the liberal resistence against the fact that she could be less liberal than the Justice she is going to replace (she did support military tribunals to try alleged terrorists).

NY Times: Obama Picks Kagan as Justice Nominee, May 9, 2010

NY Times: Obama Picks Kagan, Scholar but Not Judge, for Court Seat, May 10, 2010

Slate: The Sphinx, May 10, 2010

Slate: What Does He See in Her?, May 13, 2010

I associate...

A Tory government in Great Britain with "This is England", which does not speak well for the upcoming years. Anyways:

Nach dem Abbruch der Koalitionsgespräche mit den Liberaldemokraten am heutigen Nachmittag erklärte der britische Premierminister Gordon Brown seinen Rücktritt.

I was wondering about that.

"Es ist keineswegs in unserem Interesse, dass der Anschein entsteht, wir würden eine bestimmte Partei unterstützen", sagt Oberstleutnant Johann Golob, Leiter der Pressestelle der Wiener Polizei, zu derStandard.at. "Dass das so eingesetzt wird im Wiener Wahlkampf, ist keineswegs Intention der Wiener Polizei. Wir sind nicht glücklich mit der derzeitigen Situation."

DerStandard: Strache-Plakat: Behörde überprüft Vorgehen der FPÖ, 10. Mai 2010

I should take this more seriously...

but HUNG PARLIAMENT? Really? Oh you Brits with your odd sense of humour and complicated voting system. Also, welcome to to the world of coalition governments. According to Wikipedia, that has only ever happened during wartime?

"Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrats now have their moment of power, but it will be just a moment. They have failed to win enough votes to carry an overwhelming moral case for electoral reform, yet they have not supplanted Labour on the centre-left. They may pray for the Tory lead to be big enough to leave the decision in the hands of the nationalists, but that seems unlikely. Whatever they decide they may well split over it, and may have to defend at an early re-election. Their recent ecstasy will swiftly turn to agony."

Guardian: This is what hung parliament means, May 7, 2010

DerStandard: Gordon Brown und David Cameron streiten um Regierungsanspruch, 7. Mai 2010

Guardian: General election 2010: David Cameron and Gordon Brown tug of war for No 10, May 7, 2010

This one won't make it into the urban dictionary

In the spirit of last Sunday's post: THIS IS TOTALLY, COMPLETELY, RIDICULOUSLY AMELIA POND. No, I don't think it works. Anyways, it's an 8Bit-rendition of "Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". You can download the soundtrack separately (and immediately figure out how to make "Bad Horse Chorus" your ringtone...).

"The party is well and truly over"

"Yet Athenians were also saying, with wistful smiles, that it had been a good party while it lasted. The backdrop to the riots was that, in a mixed mood of resignation, black humour and bitterness, Greeks were bidding farewell to a decade in which everything good and bad about their country grew feverishly. There were sporting and cultural extravaganzas, starting with the 2004 Olympics. Archaeological sites were spruced up, new buildings erected. The middle class grew larger and more sophisticated. And many people at the lower end of the pile breathed a bit easier, if only because immigrants from poorer places came to harvest their olives and work in their restaurants."

Economist: The end of the party, May 5, 2010

DerStandard: Griechenland im Schockzustand - Parlament stimmt über Sparprogramm ab, 6. Mai 2010

Zeit: Griechenland und die Kinder des Zorns, 6. Mai 2010

DerStandard: Tote bei Protesten in Griechenland, 5. Mai 2010

NY Times: Greek Unrest Raises Fears About Impact on Bailout, May 5, 2010

Zeit: Euro bricht ein, Dax rutscht ab, 5. Mai 2010

NY Times: Debt Rising in Europe, May 5, 2010

Zeit: Abgebrannt am Mittelmeer, 18. Januar 2010

Paul Krugman thinks that Greece will eventually leave the Euro.

I wonder whether the tone of these articles is going to change once this starts to happen in other European countries as well, which are only slightly better off against the Greek backdrop. Hearing economists talk about how there is a chance that Greece is going to be able to pay back the debt if it sticks to the rigid austerity policy, but not mentioning the political consequences of a good part of the citizens losing 30 percent of their income at once is both entertaining and sobering at the same time.

Regrets, regrets

I started to listen to Sleater-Kinney pretty much exactly two months before they went on hiatus ("we tried not to fade out, not to come to a grinding halt"). It's one of those really sad examples of horrible timing, because I think they played the Donaufestival in Krems a year earlier, and I could have easily gone there. Anyways - it never ceases to amaze me how incredible they sound live, how Corin's voice is among the most compelling instruments, how Janet Weiss is just a relentless machine behind those drums, and how Carrie, who I've always loved best, just perfectly COMPLEMENTS Corin's singing, and just plays the living hell out of that Gibson guitar. How this band is not a reference point for what incredible, personal, moving music is supposed to be and do I will never understand.

Sleater-Kinney live on David Letterman, 2006

"There is a bridge adored and famed / The Golden spine of engineering / Whose back is heavy / With my weight"

random mixtape - nothing's ever perfect

sons and daughters. MEDICINE. nine simone. AIN'T GOT NO / I GOT LIFE. electrelane. I'M ON FIRE (bruce springsteen cover). cat power. WE ALL DIE. kaki king. MEXICAN TEENAGERS. john and jehn. 20L07. the cure. HANGING GARDEN. arcade fire. WINDOWSILL. le loup. PLANES LIKE VULTURES. social studies. DANTE & COREY WAR.

It's more about assigning blame to whoever was in charge, not to what they actually did, right?

"This election will be far from ordinary. It is not only a referendum on Brown, who became party leader and prime minister in 2007, after waiting ten years for the more charismatic Tony Blair to resign; it is also a referendum on Labour's 13 years in power and, on an even more basic level, on the economic principles that have guided the party's rule. It is in such moments that, as Karl Marx once mused, "all that is solid melts into air." Britain has had a few such upheavals before. The 2010 election will likely be one, and its consequences for foreign and domestic policy will be profound."

Foreign Affairs: Labour Pains. Why the British General Election Is a Referendum on Its Past, May 4, 2010

Guardian: Gordon Brown calls for those opposed to Tories to unite behind Labour, May 4, 2010

DerStandard: Kommentar: Nochmal scheitern, 4. Mai 2010

"It's going to be extremely tricky"

"On Monday, BP said it would pay “all necessary and appropriate clean-up costs” from the disaster. Referring to the drilling rig that collapsed April 22 after a fire and explosion, causing the well it was drilling to leak, the company said: “BP takes responsibility for responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We will clean it up.”
BP, which was leasing the Deepwater Horizon rig, has been working with an array of government agencies and private companies but has been unable so far to stop the flow of crude from the well."

NY Times: BP Says Crews Make Progress Stemming Oil Leaks, May 3, 2010

Zeit: Die größte Katastrophe für BP, 3. Mai 2010

Zeit: Bilder vom Kampf gegen das Öl

DerStandard: US-Experten: Teuerste Ölkatastrophe aller Zeiten, 3. Mai 2010

United States Environmental Protection Agency

This will probably happen after every Saturday now...

I know I've said it before, several times, occasionally supported by pictures, but the new season of "Doctor Who" is incredibly, ridiculously, impressively awesome. It's helping me over the end of generation two of "Skins" quite successfully and that says A LOT. Amelia Pond could become my replacement phrase for "made of awesome".

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Tocotronic - Im Zweifel für den Zweifel


Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, das Zaudern und den Zorn.
Im Zweifel fürs Zerreißen der eigenen Uniform.
Im Zweifel für den Zweifel und für die Pubertät.
Im Zweifel gegen Zweisamkeit und Normativität

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel und gegen allen Zwang.
im Zweifel für den Teufel und den zügellosen Drang.
Im Zweifel für die Bitterkeit und meine heißen Tränen.
Bleiern wird mir meine Zeit und doch muss ich erwähnen:

Im Zweifel für Ziellosigkeit: Ihr Menschen, hört mich rufen!
Im Zweifel für Zerwürfnisse und für die Zwischenstufen.

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, das Zaudern und den Zorn.
Im Zweifel fürs Zerreißen der eigenen Uniform.
Im Zweifel für Verzärtelung und für meinen Knacks.
Für die äußerste Zerbrechlichkeit, für einen Willen wie aus Wachs.

Im Zweifel für die Zwitterwesen aus weit entfernten Sphären.
Im Zweifel fürs Erzittern beim Anblick der Chimären.
Im Zweifel für die Bitterkeit und meine heißen Tränen.
Bleiern wird mir meine Zeit, mir bleibt noch zu erwähnen:

Im Zweifel für Ziellosigkeit: Ihr Menschen, hört mich rufen!
Im Zweifel für Zerwürfnisse und für die Zwischenstufen.
Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, das Zaudern und den Zorn.
Im Zweifel fürs Zerreißen der eigenen Uniform.

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel und die Unfasssbarkeit.
Für die innere Zerknirschung, wenn man die Zähne zeigt.
Im Zweifel fürs Zusammenklappen vor gesamtem Saal.
Mein Leben wird Zerrüttung, meine Existenz Skandal.

Im Zweifel für die Bitterkeit und meine heißen Tränen.
Bleiern wird mir meine Zeit, und doch muss ich erwähnen:

Im Zweifel für Ziellosigkeit: Ihr Menschen, hört mich rufen!
Im Zweifel für Zerwürfnisse und für die Zwischenstufen.
Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, das Zaudern und den Zorn.
Im Zweifel fürs Zerreißen der eigenen Uniform.

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, das Zaudern und den Zorn.
Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, das Zaudern und den Zorn.

[auf "Schall und Wahn", 2010]