Siri, really does work!

For the first time I feel like I’m living in the future!

As a kid films and tv series made promises about hoovering cars, house cleaning robots, and what not. None of those things have really happened yet. Sure there’s Roomba, but you still have to put the dishes in the dishwasher and take them out.

My concept of a proper kitchen is to have two dishwashers, one where you put the dirty dishes and one where you take out the clean ones. Is the dirty dishes dishwasher full, turn it on and after the cycle it’s the clean dishes cupboard and the other dishwasher becomes the dishwasher. Saves a lot of cupboard space if you ask me.

Anyways that’s besides the point.

As I like beautiful things but do have a fairly modest budget I have to choose which of the things I like I really need. And sometimes I simply go without something until I can buy the version that I really want. In that fashion I have waited 4 years updating a HP laptop to be able to buy a nice new iMac. I figure I’d rather wait and make do with what I have till I can afford what I really want instead of compromising and being reminded each time I use the alternative that I had rather have had the one that I couldn’t afford at the time.

My first iPhone was the 3G, that was the first one to be introduced in Europe. Sure I could have had friends get one for me from the USA but I wasn’t in the mood to never be able to update the software until a new jailbreak would be available. I have had that iPhone 3G for three years and the past 6 months it’s been telling me in all sorts of irritating ways that it really was time to update. I skipped updating to the iPhone 4 because at the time it was disadvantageous money wise. So I managed to squeeze the very last drop of usability out of the device hoping for the iPhone 5 to be presented this summer.

Imagine my disappointment. My husband and I were both subscribed to two different twitter feeds to keep up to date while on a day trip from Barcelona to Sitges. And it was there that I declared that the presentation of the iPhone 4S was the most disappointing presentation of the entire year. Being in Spain I said that the ‘S’ probably referred to eStupido (“Stupid”).

Alas the trusty old iPhone 3G wasn’t so trusty anymore and I was getting more annoyed by the week.

So we decided to both get the eStupido since the long awaited 5 would have us waiting so much longer that both our phones would have fallen apart or we would have smashed them against some wall.

I’m lucky to have a husband who jumped through a few hopes to get me a white iPhone 4S long before they were introduced where I live. And this Friday was the handover. I can tell you I couldn’t have waited another day. Each time I pushed a button on the 3G it took it about 20 sec to respond and sometimes it didn’t even respond at all (yeah been through the circus of resetting it as a new phone several times, of course. One has too with such a vintage device, lol).

It’s only one weekend that I have the phone and I feel like I’m living in the Jetsons Future! At first I had trouble understanding what Siri does and doesn’t understand and what wording or phrases to use. I’m now getting more comfortable, so much so that I dare talk to the phone telling it to dial someone’s number. Set an alarm, check the weather, etc.

The ‘living in the future moment’ was just before I started to write this small ode to Siri when I told it to remind me to buy shaving cream. “When would you like me to remind you” Siri asked. I said tomorrow at 7.20 AM. “Setting a reminder for tomorrow at 7.20 AM” and with that it was all done.

Fab!

#Occupywallstreet because you know you should, but you can’t.

All my friends and people who know me, know why I’m passionate about not having a tv set in my home and nor does my husband.

At one point I realised that I was flicking through all the channels again! And there was never anything on. At the time there was nothing like TiVo over here and set top boxes were only trickling through into the local media landscape. I did however have a pretty customisable HDD recorder that downloaded the tv guides and made sure that the few tv series I actually liked were always ready after I got home from my business travels. The times the trusty spinning magnetic disk provided me with my favourite programs were the only happy tv times I’ve had since I was a kid.

I also noted that looking at most of the stuff made me feel angry and frustrated. Also idiotic. Angry and frustrated that I was watching regurgitated ‘news’ of things that only made me feel angrier and more frustrated. In my opinion there is nothing much new under the sun. Shirley Bassey and Propellorheads have this duet ‘History repeating’(FAB!). Another flood, another earthquake, another mine collapsed, more houses blown away by a hurricane.

All tragedies, especially on each personal level, don’t get me wrong here! But they happen every year at the same time. The people don’t build dams (or their governments like to spend the money on themselves rather then their people), earthquakes just happen better move somewhere else, mines are very fragile things they need to be maintained better (but the companies want to make more profit), and wooden houses just don’t withstand the forces of nature as well as ones made out of stone (but still people like to build them out of wood on the exact same spot so next hurricane season the house will be blown away, yet again.).

Those tragedies I can even understand. They just make me feel sad. The REAL tragedies happen in parliaments all over the world. The very people we choose, no, we entrust to take care of our country, they infuriate me the most!

Even though this place is meant for me to vent my thoughts and ideas, I will not venture any further as it will not make me happier. And it won’t change a thing.

If you want to change the world start small, see one of my other posts.

One way of letting people in charge know is to make a sound argument and hope to convince the other person (s)he is wrong. But we have learned of late that even the soundest of arguments delivered by very competent people from within the field are not being heard. Nor are do the people entrusted with taking good care of us and our offspring by managing our countries properly are not listening to anyone else but themselves.

So we (or rather ‘the others’) gather and tried to strengthen one voice by joining other voices. From being alone to being a group. From being local to being global.

And still they are not listening.

It makes me sad, frustrated and disenfranchised. I try to play a small part in the effort by turning down the heat a bit and putting on a sweater, switching off lights in rooms when I’m not actually there, buying food labeled biological or organic. I might even start paying extra to compensate my carbon footprint for my personal flights, once I find out what the airline(s) really do with the money. (On a different note, you can look it up if you like, air travel doesn’t make up for that much hot house gasses as people think or want you to believe. The concrete building industry real culprit!).

So on my way yesterday to have something repaired (that the other thing you can do to help, instead of buying a new one have it repaired) I passed across #Occupy or #occupywallstreet Amsterdam Edition.

Below a photo impression of #occupywallstreet Amsterdam Edition taking place in front of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange Building on Beursplein 5. All Images are copyrighted, if you would like to use one please contact me.

In Therapy

They say that if you fail, you should try again, again and again.

So this Tuesday I’m gong to try again. I’m going to attempt to get my head shrunk. It will be my fourth attempt. I have no ida if this time there will be result or what these result me be. All I know is that I believe that it will be benificial in some way or another.

There are serious issues and some minor issues that I need help solving. From The untimely death of my father when I was twelve years old to the seemingly more trivial fact that I have great trouble letting go of things.

Antother thing that I think will help me is to learn how to keep expectations realistic. Expectations of myself and of others. I think that I’ve more or less managed to not expect too much of others, now I need to learn how not to be disappointed in myself. Get a more realistic self image.

So as of Tuesday I will be in therapy, let’s see.

(image credit: screenshot of Dutch tv program ‘In Therapie’)

Desert Eagle point five O

I’ve never really been a big sucker for brand products. Basically I want things to be beautiful and functional, where beauty trumps functionality.

Sure there are some brands that I like, but a no-brand version of a similar product would suit me just fine in most cases.

I do own a few brand/designer products that I simply adore having and that I think show a specific aspect of my personality. There is the LC3 sofa by Le Corbusier from Vitra, the Lotek Lamp by Premsela, the Quad 405 pre-amp, my iMac 21 inch, and a few more things.

I like to mix and match though, so the iMac stands not on a Norman Foster glass desk, but a simple white dining table by IKEA, and the Corbusier is matched with a nice dark coffee table by the same Swedish furniture giant.

But loving beautiful things I most certainly am not impervious to the allure of brand/designer things.

A while ago a friend, who I unfortunately lost contact with, gave me a pair of Dior sunglasses. Up until that moment I had only worn cheap generic sunglasses and an occasional RayBan. But every time I put those Diors on my face I feel the luxury of owning them. I get compliments on how fab they look on me and you can really tell they are the real deal. After becoming the owner of a small luxury brand product I felt like I wanted more. I really could feel the appeal of The Luxury Brands take hold of me.

Only for lack of funding and my impatience I own a fake (I prefer the word ‘replica‘) Rolex Submariner. I’ve had the watch for a few years and it still works like it’s supposed to and on several occasions owners of a genuine Rolex watch (same model) have complimented me and even asked if they could hold it and never been able to tell the difference. Only once has someone who liked the watch told me it was a very good fake. Turns out this person was a watchmaker who restores watches, Rolexes more or less his speciality. I call the watch my wish watch. One day I will own one. It will be the same model, or nearly the same model and there would be no difference for the outsider only I would realise that this one is actually the real deal.

One of my dear friends really loves Louis Vuitton bags, he simply adores them. Though LV not being my brand I can understand why. The quality is impeccable and carrying one around gives you the feeling of luxury, just like when I’m wearing the Dior. He sometimes gently tries to persuade me to buy a bag too, we even ‘agreed’ on which bag it would be.

Years ago I bought a nice weekend/travel bag by Puma. I simply loved the bag, for it’s size, it’s looks and practicality. Unfortunately after 7 years this bag had to be replaced. I found myself drawn to one of the luxury brands, Gucci. They have one particular large carry-on duffel that I like very much.

But having had to get by on the bare minimum I have become very apprehensive at spending large sums of money on things. Sure I would be buying an article that would probably last a lifetime, and each time I would use it I would have that sense of luxury but it still didn’t feel right to spend so much money on a simple weekend/travel bag.

So I bought a nice compact leather bag from a major Spanish retailer to replace my old Puma bag. It’s leather so it still feels good to the touch and the design is both practical and pleasing to the eye. But it is not the Gucci carry-on duffel that I really like.

Normally I don’t like to buy the alternative, I’d rather wait until I can afford or have saved enough to buy the thing that I really want. That’s why I waited a few years to finally get the iMac to replace a generic HP Laptop that was falling apart under my hands. But cycling through the city today I saw so many ‘Louis Vuitton‘ bags carried by people who do not look like they could afford a genuine one. So I though if I had bought the Gucci large carry-on duffel, would people also assume it to be a replica (although most LV ‘replicas‘ are so poorly constructed of such poor material that they have the word FAKE written all over it) or would they think I look like someone who could afford the real deal?

I guess it’s the same with me wearing the Rolex Submariner Replica, even though owners of the genuine article have held the watch in their hands and still thought it was the real deal.

Still I’m happy to have found a good replacement for my Puma bag and I am considering to buy the matching bigger bag to compliment this bag when it turns out too small (as it is smaller than the bag it replaces) for my visits to my boyfriend in Munich.

PS the title of this entry refers to a scene in ‘Snatch‘ where the character Bullit Tooth Tony makes it painfully clear to his opponents the virtues of having the real deal versus owing a REPLICA.

Fragment from Snatch – Desert Eagle point five O

Organic, but not at all cost.

From the moment I saw the much acclaimed documentary ‘Food Inc.‘ I decided that perhaps I could be a little bit more selective in the type of food I buy.

So ever since I’ve made sure that at least one of the ingredients of the night’s supper has a ‘Biological’ label on it or an other officially recognised label indicating that during the entire proces the welfare of the animal or the earth in general has been carefully taken into account.

I even did some research into which labels actually mean something, and what exactly they mean.

I’m in the fortunate position that I don’t have any finacial worries so paying a bit more for more environmental sound production methods doesn’t break the bank. So when I buy biological salmon filets they are about 2€ more per kilo than the regular salmon. I found that with most variaties of meat the price per kilo is around 2€ more. For someone in my current situation that is a small price to pay to let the supermarket know that there is demand for products like this. The supermarket in it’s quest to make more money can decide to contract more producers that produce products with the legally recognised and controlled label ‘biological’.

This is something Wallmart has done. Now this retailer, the world’s largest, is not know for it’s ethics. But when teir data showed that people are actually buying more biological/organic products they calculated that there is a lot ot money to be made and started introducing more and more of such products.

One of the mantras of the documentary is that you vote for organic or not organic each time one of your purchases gets scanned at the checkout.

So yesterday I found myself holding a organic piece of chicken filet and couldn’t believe it was ca 7€! So I checked the price per kilo and compared it to the price per kilo of the ordinary chicken filet. It turned out that the chicken with the label ‘Biologic’ was three (!) times more expensive.

That’s a little bit too much. Even for someone who can basically afford it and who tries to make a difference.

Let’s hope enough people start reading the labels and learn about the proper logos to look for and start voting at the cash registers in the supermarket!

Plus size models

A while ago there was a lot of talk about so called plus size models. In fashion terms those models would be called: fat. Now fat is a relative term, lots of people find themsleves to be fat while they are not, at least not technically. They percieve themselves as being fat (I’m one of them) even when their Body Mass Index is well within healthy range.

But your BMI being in the healthy range automatically disqualifies you as a fashion model. Especially a run way model. All the couture shown during fashion shows is made in one size, and one size only. So all the girls, and a few women, need to have the same size. Can’t imagine a couture designer to make anything is all different sizes. It would be a logistical nightmare getting the correct sized girl for that particular dress and a different sized girl for that other dress and so on. (Technically dresses are worn by a particular model, and they are made to fit that model precisely, but these alterations are nothing like taking in a hem for someone who is two sizes smaller than the intended model, if you get what I mean).

Same thing goes for photography models. The stylist gets the clothes straight from the factory or designer and they come only in a small range of sizes. Remember the shoots need to be published before the actual season starts so not a lot of sizes would be available. And again the model should be interchangable to a degree as logistics may change, model may fall ill, etc.

But generally photography models don’t need to be size zero, I’m pretty sure a size one wouuld be fine too.

A lot of critisism went out to the judges in real life tv shows where hopeful young girls aspire to be models, and compete in all sorts of assignments. In my country one judge was almost skinned alive in the papers after calling a pretty skinny girl fat. She may not have been clinically fat, but for a would be model she probably was. Outcry about the damage such comments would do to such a young girl who wasn’t fat to begin with.

Well, the girl wants to be a model, to be a model one of the things you need to be is super thin. Whether that is too thin I leave up to you. So when you don’t fit the physical requirements don’t go blame some judge who merely pointed out a fact.

Then some magazines aimed at women decided that they had seen enough of the super skinny models. They wanted more life-like models in their publications. Normal people.

I’m sure that by now you also know that every single image that is ever published has been altered. Even the images that you used to get back from the processing plant in the days everybody still used film, were altered. Not in a big way, only to make the colours look more like the real thing, colour correction. Of course you can use colour correction to make a scene look more dramatic, but is that a bad thing?

Right, back to the magazines. The women and girls (and guys, mind you!) in all the magazine shoots have been altered. Just a few common alterations: bigger pupils, higher cheekbones, fuller hair, bluer eyes, smaller hips, longer legs and last but not least bigger breasts. All these things, and more, are done after the shoot. This is why photography models can be a bit fatter than run way models, because they get altered in postproduction. But there’s only so much you can do, so you still have to be pretty thin to begin with.

This practise results in physiques that are impossible to attain, but nonetheless we all get influenced by those images of super beautiful (constructed) people. And because we see so many of them we start to believe that this is what ‘normal’ (albeit beautiful) people look like. And this was of course what the editors of those magazines wanted to do, they wanted normal people in the photos so the readers would feel like they were normal too and that their readers wouldn’t starve themselves to look at least somewhat like the models in the magazine. These editors wanted to create attainable rolemodels. A noble cause to be sure.

I think perhaps one magazine published one issue with normal people as models. Don’t ask me why they stopped but I guess that when you are any bit like me and you buy a magazine for your entertainment, you don’t want to be faced with normal people. Also normal people don’t have a clue what it’s like to do a fashion shoot, and they all look so, well, normal. And generally model agencies don’t do normal people.

When I buy a magazine I want to see super beautiful people, I’m paying good money for a fantasy. If I want to see normal people I only have to step out the door and I am surrounded by normal people.

And you know what? Most of them are FAT.

The photo above of is an image of Grace Jones, by Jean-Paul Goude. It was first published in New-York Magazine in 1978 and hardly anyone at the time knew this image was not an actual photo but a photo collage. This image is a nice example of an impossible physique. Nothing in this image is real…

Below you can see how the iconic image of Grace Jones was constructed, not using photoshop or any other digital media as they weren’t available at the time, all by hand (Photoshop was introduced in February 1990).

Click on image for more information

Why Frau Bundeskanzler Angela Merkel should have listened to me.

I often am amazed by how people in high places make such illogical and economical unsound decisions. I can get really irritated by it, so much so that this is one of the reasons why don’t own a tv anymore.

I find it totally unbelievable that she, who had the balls to be the first person in power to say that the way we’ve been dealing with the multiculti thing needs a new approach, decides on a whim to close all of Germany’s nuclear power plants.

Clearly this decision was politically motivated. Pressure by the people. Sure it’s those people she represents, but she does have an obligation to do right to the people and not wrong. And, had she asked me, I would have told her by closing the nuclear power plants she would be doing her people wrong. Much wrong!

Nuclear power, even Greenpeace now has seen that light, is actually one of the safest and greenest means of producing the huge amount of power we all demand for our modern lifestyle. And since we don’t intent to change our lifestyle in such a dramatic manner that it will actually make a difference, this need for all this energy will remain, if not increase.

If nuclear power plants are well maintained (unlike the one in Fukushima) and the companies don’t try to cut corners on safety procedures to save a buck or two, they are actually quite safe. They are also very efficient and don’t emit all the gasses into the atmosphere that traditional power plants do.

Sure there is the nuclear waste product that needs to be taken care of. But bear with me for a bit and read on what Mr Bill Gates has to say about the whole thing (link provided for your convenience).

By closing down those power plants all the economic AND environmental profit those plants represent have INSTANTLY changed into an economic and environmental deficit! The investments in terms of money have not been covered yet and the nuclear materials used to actually create the electricity hasn’t been used to it’s full potential. So waste of money and extra burden on the environment of partly unused nuclear material.

So now more money is going to be invested in OLD technology to create traditional power plants (sure of the next next generation) that emit huge amounts of green house gasses into the atmosphere and need to be fueled by coal which needs to be delved from our lands, creating ever more gaps of waste land where the coal is mined.

So if Frau Bundeskanzler doesn’t want to listen to my advice, and of people who actually specialize in the field, but is only concerned about her re-election and popularity, perhaps she should give Mr. Bill Gates a call, I’m sure he would be happy to give her some sound advice and perhaps she would listen to him

So please read this article published by Wired.com Magazine.

(Image Mr. Bill Gates, Copyright Wired.com, Photo: Carlos Serrao)

 

Update: The Green Party (Die Grüne) found their popularity rise after it was decided to close the nuclear power plants (more suggestion that it was decided on political grounds rather than environmental and economical grounds). Apart from the financial loses of simple capital destruction by closing fully operational power plants, a gap in the national budget of 1.5 Billion Euro will now occur due to loss of taxes on this nuclear energy. All of that due to a decision made on bases of popular believe and sentiment instead of a clear vision of what is needed for the future…

See also this article on Nu.nl

Is Mr. Karl Lagerfeld in desperate need of cash?

I will not say a single bad word about Mr. Karl Lagerfeld.

Firstly we haven’t been introduced (I don’t own a fax machine) so everything would be hearsay and secondly I think he’s brilliant, very strange (people who know me know this is a compliment) and very quotable.

The idea of him running out of cash has been forming over the past few weeks, during which I have been bombarded by the countless billboard ads in Germany for a particular car. And then there are the hideous bottle’s he’s done for that fizzy drink (the diet version, of course).

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with doing something on the side, but it’s been a bit of an overkill if you ask me. The H&M collection was done in 2005, though still fresh in the memory, but it’s fashion so I don’t count that one.

Every time when I’m in Germany, where my boyfriend lives, I get bombarded by the iconic image of Mr. Lagerfeld in the company of a car. (“I am like a caricature of myself, and I like that. It is like a mask. And for me the Carnival of Venice lasts all year long” he said once about his image in The Observer Magazine)

Then the fizzy drink bottles. Why would you want to restyle the bottle that is iconic all by itself. A matter of taste, for sure, but I don’t think Mr. Lagerfeld has done any of us a favour. Anybody but himself and probably the fizzy drinks manufacturer. Perhaps they want to copy the success of the limited edition bottles of that famous Swedish Vodka.

So I jokingly said to my boyfriend that his house in Monte-Carlo (Villa La Vigie) was probably on the market now too. Apperently he already sold it in 1997. Also stopped leasing an 18.000 square feet house in Paris and no longer has his Villa Jako in Biarritz.

All of that doesn’t indicate that there are money problems though, as he seems to have bought a property in Vermont, has a loft at Gramercy Park in NYC and rents two properties in Ramatuelle (one for himself and one for guest).

But my original idea is still haunting me.

One day I took a closer look at the promotional images for the car advertisements and it turns out that Mr. Lagerfeld isn’t just appearing in the photos but they are also DONE by Mr. Lagerfeld. And why not indeed.

I say clever, Mr. Lagerfeld. Why have them pay you once if you can make them pay you twice!?

On a last note, if you want to get to know Mr. Lagerfeld a bit better, go see ‘Signé Chanel’.

Oh, and get a fax machine. ”People I’m really friendly with have faxes. Anna Wintour has one.”

Below an image of a 2008 French public awareness campaign which I find hysterical.

C’est jaune, c’est moche, ça ne va avec rien, mais ça peut vous sauver la vie.

It’s yellow, it’s ugly as hell, it does not go with anything, but it can save your life.

(image source)

 

Update, more Lagerfeld, more quotes!

Is it really all just about your mindset?

Some people say that ‘Happiness’ is a state of mind.

I’ve been a fan of that phrase for a long while and thought it had some merit, but lately I’m starting to believe that it really is true.

Now I have to admit that the past 12 months a lot of positive changes have taken place in my life. Things have ‘finally’ happened. Things that I longed for or wanted but thus far had always been (just) out of reach. I have always been convinced that those things would happen, that ‘it’ would come my way, that it would just take a bit longer than I wanted or hoped.

I guess it’s easier to believe that ‘Happinness’ is a state of mind when you are in or very close to that state of mind. I believe that I am now in that state of mind, and if not, I’m pretty darn close.

In the past I used to sometimes drape myself in my cloak of sadness, pull up the blankets of depression all the way over my head and step, step, step down into that downward spiral of darkness. Now, I find myself able to hang that cloak on a hanger, get out from under the blanket and step side ways out of the spiral track. That doesn’t mean that I don’t sometimes find myself holding that familiar cloak, or start to pull up those blankets but I now know that I can also put them away. I don’t have to go down that downward track, I can now make the conscious decision to step aside.

I’m not sure what made me realise all of that, is it simply a product of getting older. Or am I getting wiser?

Whatever helped to bring about these changes in the way I can now look at things, at the world, at my life, I’m happy that it did.

Only yesterday (I admit it was a particularly sunny day) I found myself saying to myself out loud (like they do in the movies) that I love my life and told myself to mark that moment.

Such a long way from the suicidal thoughts I had nearly every day when I was a teenager…

Things do get better and it’s all in your mind anyway.

(image source)

3631 Kg CO2 less than average.

I guess this is the only occasion where I’m looking forward to see an envelope that would usually contain a bill. It’s a once a year thing and this year is the first time in a few years that I was expecting one.

About two weeks or so ago a guy rang the door bell to read the electricity and gas meters, that’s when I knew something was coming. And after my return to Amsterdam from our Munich apartment today, I went through the post and found the eagerly awaited envelope, the one by the utilities company.

It contained the yearly overview of how much gas and electricity was spent over the entire year. I was really curious because the utilities are charged in advance based on an estimation of use. When we got the keys the estimate was rather high so after a talk with the utilities company they lowered the monthly payments. I still thought it would be more than the actual usage but I rather pay a bit more each month and get money back instead of having to pay extra at the end of the year.

So it turns out that we don’t use that much energy in the Amsterdam apartment: 1.167 kWh of electricity and 520 m3 gas. Which they calculated to an emission of 1590 Kg of CO2.

That’s about 3631 Kg CO2 less than an average household.

Glad that this is not an average household in many ways!

And not surprising they restituted almost half of the amount I paid over the past year: NICE!

Using less energy isn’t only good for the environment but also nice for the wallet…

(image of two jelly fish in Georgia Aquarium taken with iPhone, copyright Grisnoir)