past-perfect

Flickr artists Rétrofuturs (Hulk4598 and Stéphane Massa-Bidal) showcase their visions of websites in vintage paperback form.  Apparently one can purchase poster-sized prints.  I think these are great--it reminds me of illustrated literature that one finds in clinic waiting rooms, sort of the tortured stick figures that get every kind of social disease.  I think everything looks classier and truer in this format. 

hogan's heroes

Over the weekend, H and I visited the village of Colditz with its imposing castle.  During the war, it was used to house incorigible allied prisoners of war, since thinking the fortess impenetrable, those who had successfully escaped from other prisons could be kept secure and isolated.  Due to the nature of the prisoners with their established histories of escape, this place had one of the highest records of flight of any jail.  H told me a lot of the history about the village, but it's strange to think of such a monolithic place as this not really being known in its own right.  With tourism, the castle and the camp became sort of a parody of itself, a mash-up of a dozen different mythical places and intrigues.  Sometimes these places need to be rediscovered, and then can be awe-inspiring in their own rights.

must see t.v. or proud as a peacock

An article highlighted a rather disturbing coincidence concerning the aquisition of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) by cable conglomerate Comcast.  The merger still needs Congressional approval before proceding, and given Obama's professed stance on the laxity of others in enforcing the break up of monopolies and cartels, one might expect that the deal would fall through--especially considering such a large stake of US media outlets is covered by a single umbrella.  NBC reporting, however, has just come out in favour of the Democrats' health care platform.  Is policy determined that way?  Do law makers consider how to get in on this or that action before giving this giant buffer to freedom of the press their blessings?  Would the new mouthpiece that the government pwn'd, state-owned media, be effective in blathering only what's favourable about their health care plans?

wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen

To greet delegates as they arrive at the airport for the climate summit, which gets underway Monday, Greenpeace has hung a series of posters of world leaders, electronically aged eleven years, apologizing for not affecting real change to protect and preserve the environment when they had the chance.  Old Meta-Obama looks wizened and sad.  Some 140 private jets will be decending on the capital's airport (though unable to park on the tarmac during the conference due to lack of space, will wait to pick up their charges at Finnish run-ways) and a fleet of 1200 limousines will clog the streets.  I can't believe the wake of bureaucracy and minding that conferences such as these pull.