Cosy Shell

It's quite cold in Switzerland. Minus 12°C are forecasted for this night. That's not as cold as in Ojmjakon, where I've been a couple of years ago at this time of year.



But it's not only the weather that's cold. One brief look at a newspaper (I've got no telly - thank God) and one is reminded that it's a cold new world out there.

Lucky for me, a company in sunny California provides mankind with a nice little device that maintains a cosy shell for protection. It's not a cure against the coldness. Far from it. But nothing can harm me out there, when I switch on my iPod and select the right tune.

gnireenignE esreveR

Uff, I've just have been relived from an evil spell. This was not a flow day so far.

There was something wrong with the output of a recording software, which I maintain but not had designed in the first place. I started with the debugging this morning. Eventually, I guessed that the problem does not resid in the recording but in the analysing software. Hence, I started to search in that code as well.

Finally, a half an hour ago, I returned from the loo and said to my colleagues: Today, I did not make 1 mm of progress. Then, I changed a limitation from 16 to 17 and everything worked just fine.

I's just like with abdominal pains. The cause is never where it hurts. Damn, I hate reverse engineering.

Experiencing Sorokin

Gatín and I spent a couple of days in Munich. We took the opportunity and saw the play A Month in Dachau by the Russian author Vadimir Sorokin. The play was a rather shocking experience for Gatín, who did not know the work of Sorokin.

Let's give a short summery of what we were presented: In 1990, the author Sorokin travels from Moscow via Braunau to Dachau. He is welcomed by three polite SS men and their German Shepherds. At the side of his guards Margarethe and Gretchen, he goes through 26 cells of the concentrations camp. It is a unrestrained, brutal, cannibalistic and pornographic nightmare, looking into the abyss of German and Soviet totalitarianism. In a grotesque eternal triangle, which ends with a romantic marriage, the past and the present are mixed to a unbridled journey through language and time.

Of course, we could not just walk out of the theatre in the Haus der Kunst (built on Hitler's request), without discussing the play. Our discussion ended in a hip bar on a disagreement, whether Nihilism is of French or Russian origin.

For once, I was right. The Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev popularised the term in his novel Fathers and Sons (1862). But what's the point of being right, when the world, and especially human existence, is without meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value.

Fetish Desert

This evening, Gatín surprised my flatmate and me with an excellent dinner. For the main course he presented a delicious Lasaña Tolteca.

After the fruit salad it was time to have a first breeze through the new Speedo catalogue, which arrived today. Now it's full of post it tags marking all must haves. Unfortunately the most desirable ones are not available until May. That will give some extra time to get rid of the wintry love handles.

La vie est un long fleuve tranquille

Wow! Today, I'm in the flow. It's exactly like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi had defined it:

• I'm up to the activity.
• I'm able to concentrate on the activity.
• The activity has clear goals.
• The activity has direct feedback.
• I feel that I control the activity.
• My worries and concerns disappear.
• My subjective experience of time is altered.

Let's see, whether I can keep up this complete and energized focus with its high level of enjoyment and fulfillment.

Besos y Abrazos

It might be that I'm going on your bloody nerves, but I'm head over heels in love and I keep blogging about my personal thoughts (blog: a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links).

I know, clinically, this state is just marked by a decrease of serotonin neurotransmitter, which leads to increase in emotional sensitivity and instability. I also know that "true love" must involve an understanding of a person on a fundamental level, which is unlikely to reside in the fantasy of a crush unless one postulates an empathic connection or accepts Plato's concept of God-given right opinion. I'm getting quite theoretical here - sorry, never give a keyboard to an engineer. However, right now, Gatín is one of the best ever happened to me and I'm enjoying the present and don't worry about what might and might not be.

Two of the best things that are happening in the present are kissing and hugging. There is the great song Besame Mucho about the kissing part. But I can't think of one about the hugging. Please help.

Besame Mucho
Besame, besame mucho,
Como si fuera esta noche la ultima vez
Besame, besame mucho,
Que tengo miedo perderte, perderte despues.
Quiero mirarme en tus ojos,
Tenerte muy cerca, verte junto a mi.
Piensa que tal vez mañana
Yo ya estare lejos, Muy lejos de aqui. Besame, besame mucho,
Como si fuera esta noche la ultima vez.
Besame, besame mucho, Que tengo miedo perderte, perderte despues.

Four Minutes for Eternity

A single song can save the day or open the world. Last week, the Wochenzeitung (WOZ) presented a list of 50 songs that changed their lives:

• 1955 Johnny Cash: I Walk the Line
• 1956 Elvis Presley: Heartbreak Hotel
• 1957 Screamin' Jay Hawkings: I Put a Spell on You
• 1958 Chuck Berry: Johnny B. Good
• 1959 The Crickets: I Fought the Law
• 1960 Carla Thomas: I'll Bring It All Home to You
• 1961 Ray Charles: Hit the Road Jack
• 1962 Beatles: Love Me Do
• 1963 Soeur Sourire: Doiminique
• 1964 The Shangri La's: Remember (Walking in the Sand))
• 1965 Sam the Sham & the Pharaos: Wooly Bully
• 1966 Mani Matter: I han en Uhr erfunde
• 1967 Serge Gainsbourg: Comic Strip
• 1968 Mary Hopkin: Those Were the Days
• 1969 The Incredible String Band: Creation
• 1970 Anton Bruhin: Läck du mir am Arsch
• 1971 Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven
• 1972 T.Rex: Telegram Sam
• 1973 Deep Purple: Smoke on the Water
• 1974 Bob Dylan: Idiot Wind
• 1975 Sailor: Girls Girls Girls
• 1976 Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the UK
• 1977 Barclay James Harvest: Hymn
• 1978 Johnny Hill: Ruf Teddybär Eins-Vier
• 1979 Ludwig Hirsch: Die gottverdammte Pleite
• 1980 Lio: Amoureux Solitaires
• 1981 Black Flag: Louie Louie
• 1982 Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska
• 1983 The Fall: The Man Whose Head Expanded
• 1984 Depeche Mode: Master and Servent
• 1985 The Ramones: Howling at the Moon
• 1986 Marshall Jefferson: Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)
• 1987 Fito Paez: Dando vueltas en el aire
• 1988 Fugazi: Waiting Room
• 1989 Tone Loc: Funky Cold Medina
• 1990 They Might Be Giants: Dead
• 1991 Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
• 1992 Robert Wyatt: A Short Break
• 1993 Shrimp Boat: What Do You Think of Love Baby
• 1994 Jovanotti: Penso Positivo
• 1995 PJ Harvey: Down by the Water
• 1996 Tinderstick: Petites Gouttes d'Eau
• 1997 Daft Punk: Around the World
• 1998 Absolute Beginner: Rock on
• 1999 Aphex Twin: Windowlicker
• 2000 Radiohead: Idiotheque
• 2001 Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Break of Day
• 2002 Bill Wells Octet: Wiltz
• 2003 Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Silver and Gold
• 2004 Wilco: Spiders/Kidsmoke

Why did these songs changed there lives? Well, you shoud have read WOZ Number 7/2005.

Solitude & Passion

Life for my beloved Gatín is not easy, because there are some aspect of my character that are not made for a passionate relationship:

• I'm an engineer (think analytical, think rational, think emotionally retarded).
• I'm comfortable with solitude.
• I'm a reader (at least two daily & three weekly newspapers, tons of books).
• The only sports I like are cycling and swimming - both are not designed for a lot of company.
• I'm not likely to smile a lot.
• I can be extremely grumpy, especially when I'm tired.
• I can be mute for days.
• I'm not used to talk about feelings.
  

Lucky me, Gatín has stamina and seems not to give up shaking me out of my secluding shell. I hope, his endurance lasts. I'm sure that we are made for each other.

Solitude
by Alexander Pope

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield shade,
In winter, fire.

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years, slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixed; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

3 Step Rule

During today's post lunch coffee break, I learned the three steps of a discussion as taught by my caring boss:

1. Indisputable statement
2. Flat-footed refusal
3. Violence.

Somehow, we managed to stop between 2 and 3.

Your Absence...

I'm in the middle of an emotional rollercoaster. While I was pondering Goethe's Glück und Traum, I received a tender poem by my beloved Gatín. He named it "Your Absence..."

Tu Ausencia...
En tu ausencia aprendí a amarte más aún
en ella encontré otras formas de quererte
y encontré también grandes algrias
sabiendote añorandome en las lejanías
y así descubría mas amor aún.
Sin recibir una palabra por escrito
no se si lo hubiese sobrevivido,
lo que si se es que fue eterno
el no ver tu rostro tierno
sabiendote en los mares
y yo aca en profundo inverno
ese tiempo eterno, lo sobreviví
pero ahora que estas aquí
no puedo estar un segundo más sin tí
Tu gatin enamorado

Bliss & Dream

Today, the poem Glück und Traum by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe kind of made me lose my Un Año De Amor footing, especially this line: "What does it help that I enjoy? The warmest kisses escape like dreams, and all joy like a kiss".

Glück und Traum

Du hast uns oft im Traum gesehen
Zusammen zum Altare gehen,
Und dich als Frau, und mich als Mann.
Oft nahm ich wachend deinem Munde
In einer unbewachten Stunde,
So viel man Küsse nehmen kann.

Das reinste Glück, das wir empfunden,
Die Wollust mancher reichen Stunden
Floh wie die Zeit mit dem Genuß.
Was hilft es mir, daß ich genieße?
Wie Träume fliehn die wärmsten Küsse,
Und alle Freude wie ein Kuß.

One Year Of Love

Tonight, I'm really a lucky boy. Un Año De Amor is not only on heavy rotation at gomad mansion, I've also experience a passionate topless strip dance to this tune and touching was permitted. I'm curios about the taste of the kisses, which is described in this song. Soon, I will find out if it's really that memorable... (actually it is, or so far everyone has been).

Between Melting & Boiling

The human body needs a regular supply of drinks. But not all substances in the liquid state are potable:

Not my drinks:

• Baileys
  The Irish cream liqueur, which was launched on November 26, 1974. If marketing folks want to delude me into drinking anything, they should try it with a bit more wit. One of the most boring drinks ever brought to market.
• Vodka mixed
  Stick to high quality vodka which is produced in countries of the former Soviet Union and you will never make the mistake of adding anything to vodka at all. Forget Smirnov, Absolute, and all that lousy crap they try to sell you. Make a trip to Moscow.
• Alcopops
  Something for the Teletubby generation, far beyond my coordinate system of comprehension.
• Coke
  The symbol of American imperialism. Who wants to be known as a friend of a lost case? Only useful to sort out a disturbed stomach.
• British Lager
  or any lager that is not brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot.
• Root Vegetable Juice
  I doubt that I will ever be ill enough be able to enjoy any of this healthy drinks.
• Multi Vitamin Drinks
  All taste the same and all taste like a detergent

My drinks:

• Zürich's Tap Water
  Extremely soft water (low calcium level). Its purity is monitored by a trout swimming in the stream of water. If the fish stops swimming, it triggers a light barrier alarm.
• Vine
  Any chosen by my Gatín is a wise choice.
• Citrus Fruit Juice
  Any is good as far as no sugar is added.
• Coffee
  keeps my engine running - hence, decaf is considered barbaric (must be an American invention, though).
• Belgian Beer
  It can be anything (excluding Stella Artois): Lambic, Gueuze, Faro, Double, Triple, name it...

Un Año De Amor

Sometimes, I involuntarily fall for songs that have been around for ages. Suddenly they catch me - for no apparent reason - and I have to put them on high rotation on every sound device available.

Right now, this song is Un Año De Amor as it has been performed by Luz Casal in Pedro Almodóvar's Tacones lejanos (High Heels) - one of the few movies by this genius that I haven't seen *shame*. Originally the song was written by Nino Ferrer in French as "Pour oublier qu'on s'est aimé".

Un Año De Amor
Lo nuestro se acabó
y te arrepentirás de haberle puesto fin
a un año de amor.
Si ahora tú te vas
pronto descubrirás
que los días son eternos y vacios sin mí.
Y de noche, por la noche,
por no sentirte solo
recordarás
nuestros días felices,
recordarás el sabor de mis besos
y entenderás
en un solo momento
qué significa
un año de amor.
Te has parado a pensar
lo que sucederá,
todo lo que perdemos
y lo que sufrirás?.
Si ahora tú te vas no recuperarás
los momento felices que te hice vivir.
Y de noche, por la noche,
por no sentirte solo
recordarás el sabor de mis besos
y entenderás
en un solo momento
qué significa
un año de amor.
Y entenderás
en un solo momento
qué significa
un año de amor.

Tripped

My business trip to Malaysia is over. As announced, it was a trip to festivities. Especially the Chinese New Year was an experience.

I can't survive without a frequent fruit supply. Hence, I've loved the mandarin oranges which were available and handed out as presents everywhere. They are a symbol of wealth and good fortune. The Cantonese word for these oranges is a homonym for gold.

Another thing I've learned is that if Adam & Eve were Chinese, we still would live in Paradise. A Chinese Eve would have chosen the serpent.

Smooching For The Cause

Today, I did my first undercover smooching in a shopping centre. A certain person (I dare not to mention the person's name in this blog) asked me to assist while doing some labour action work at a this shopping centre (neither dare I to mention the centre's name), which does not treat its employees as a caring employer is supposed to. Somehow this included cuddling and snogging in the ladies underwear section and while queuing at the register. How I'm supposed to tell this my beloved Gatín? I hope the capitalistic pigs come to their senses and spare me such ordeal.

Gong Xi Fa Chai (2)

The Chinese really know what is important in life. Today, I saw this:

This Chinese New Year let us open our doors to opportunities, to fulfilling our potential, to making our lives richer and more prosperous.

Let's go for it...

Gong Xi Fa Chai

For the upcoming year of the rooster, I wish you prosperity, happiness and eternal grooviness.

It's time to hang out the lanterns and dust the dragon costume. Hurry up.