The life of a pioneering photographer.

New blog !!!

2011-06-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

I have started working on my new photo project "What the world has never seen".

On the performing of this photo project a special blog is published with background information, anecdotes, the progress, events, adventures, facts, information, etc

Check out:

http://www.whattheworldhasneverseen.wordpress.com

New weekly blog

2011-02-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

As of February 2011 I publish a weekly column about photography on the website
www.zone-10.com

No more

2011-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

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Announcement

2010-12-30T07:27:00.000-08:00

For the time being, no new postings will be published on this blog anymore.

Blog readers that are fervent and loyal may expect an important message as a posting on this blog on January 7, 2011.

2011 makes think

2010-12-29T07:22:00.000-08:00

Checking the sitemeter of this blog, the data is found that on average 99 persons a day visit this site.
And that the amount of people , as can be seen on the chart "This year's visits by month" is stable.
It remains more or less the same.

The conclusion is the blog is not growing in popularity.
That is a knowledge that does not help the motivation needed each day to publish another story.
In a few days a new year will come and now are many moments of considerations whether to continue the effort of publishing every day a story on this blog.
Maybe 2011 should be the year of starting a complete different activity that will be fun also but reaching more people?
Two more days to contemplate and make a decision.

Running into pain

2010-12-28T07:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the running time was 1 hour, 24 minutes and 35 seconds.
The ambition is to run before the year ends 1 hour and 30 minutes.
This must be possible.
There are four days left to achieve this epic result of running.

Because probably the running is so frequent, the body starts to give signals.
Or these signals should be understood as warnings.
Like yesterday the whole evening there was cramp in the left foot.
And the hamstrings are painful when sitting in a chair.

Logic and smartness would dictate to carefully listen and respect to these warnings and to lower the frequency of running.
Not every day anymore but for example only a few times a week.
But this is not in line with the ambition burning in the body.
The need to run every day and to perform is so immense and dominant that it can not be pushed aside.

For the moment the warnings of the muscles are ignored although it is playing with fire.
As it could result in long lasting harm to the body.
But it is this possible achievement of one hour and a half non stop running that is dangling in front all the time.
It could happen tomorrow or in two days.
And then frequency and distance can be moderated.

Will it happen?

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Huge Hughes

2010-12-27T08:48:00.001-08:00

Today a Russian Proton rocket was launched successfully from the space center of Baikonoer in Kazachstan carrying the Ka-Sat satellite.
It was safely put in orbit and this satellite will be operational in four months.

The Ka-Sat satellite was build by the European company Astrium and has a capacity equal to 40 TV-satellites.
It will serve over 1 million households in Europe with high speed internet connections.

The Ka-Sat satellite is owned by the European communication company Eutelsat.
It has a height of 6 meters (20 feet) and its wingspan is over 40 meters (131 feet).
This satellite costs 350 million Euros. (460 million $)

In the USA are several companies offering internet access through a satellite connection.
Hughes Network Systems is one such company having over one million customers.
It uses different satellites but no matter how, it is by now an outdated system with low transmission speeds.
But worse is the policy of Hughes towards their customers.
It is driven by hunger for profit no matter what.
It si capitalism at its worst.
Check for example the Consumer Affairs website for Hughes Network Systems for the most horrific stories.
Where people write things like:

How many individual complaints reporting the same problems with this company does it take to get a response from Consumer Affairs or The Federal Trade Commission? Does Hughesnet have a loophole within the law that makes it okay to falsely advertise, compromise the privacy of their customers and real them in with false claims of "Special Promotions" that offer free installation and equipment, that not even a month into service you are billed $ 495.82 for?

Or

One of their commercials used to make fun of DSL, saying it stood for dismally slow line. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We installed DSL just yesterday and it is wonderful. Probably 10 times as fast and a lot cheaper and no fair access policy, which is only a way to rip people off. I hope I hear of a class action lawsuit against them because I can't wait to get involved. I don’t really believe in lawsuits but these people are crooks and they need to be put out of business. Please Please Please stay away from them.

Or

I have had 5 years of the worst internet service. I have called HughesNet over 200 times. The customer service is outsourced to India as are all of US Companies. The signal and bandwith is terrible and is not High speed service as advertised. On its best day it is a hair better than dial up. The modem has to be restarted several times a day in order to try to get a connection.

Or

This has got to be the worst company in history. They are nothing but crooks who oversell their own product and pass the shoddy end product on to their customers who are forced to accept it without recourse. I really never thought of mental anguish before dealing with Hughesnet, now I know why it is a factor in lawsuits. Hughesnet needs to be forced by law to uphold their contracts with their customers who presently have no voice whatsoever. A class action lawsuit is the only way I can see where they can be made to account for their actions.

For now there is only the knowledge that it is a temporary matter.
Logic and history learns that in the future Internet will be everywhere at high speed.
And hopefully private companies will not be allowed anymore to be involved in this type of public services.

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Check:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/hughes.html

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Running over one hour

2010-12-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

19 December 2010 45 minutes
20 December 2010 50 minutes
21 December 2010 55 minutes
22 December 2010 1 hour and 2 minutes
23 December 2010 1 hour and 7 minutes
24 December 2010 1 hour and 11 minutes
25 December 2010 1 hour and 19 minutes

For months there was daily running at El Triple on the Pacific coast of Baja California.
Hence, this continued at Punta Boca del Salado on the Sea of Cortez coast.
Not on the beach but on the hilly dirt road that connects the rancho of the Gonzales family with the town of San Jose del Cabo.

And as has happened before at this location the ambition finds the way to flourish.
Because every day the distance to run is extended.
The first day at Punta Boca del Salado it was 45 minutes and yesterday 1 hour and 19 minutes.

The target is to be able to run 1,5 hour non stop before the end of the year.

Now, we may ask, why is this?
What sense does this make?

Usually in this blog there are convincing answers to even complicated questions, but why there is this daily running becoming longer and longer is inexplicable.
Because it is not more than simply fun.
It gives a great feeling.
And the body becomes strong and the health better.
Nothing more to it.

But is it not a little excessive?
To run over one hour a day?
Maybe a little neurotic?
Pathetic even?
Well, feel free to think about it what you prefer.
It is done from happiness and pleasure and anything else doesn’t fit to label it.

Recently in La Paz there was the hunt for new running shoes as the old ones had cracked soles and the flexibility gone.
The search was for a specific running shoe called the “all terrain”.
This shoe has a sole with better grip for running on dirt roads.
Now, using classic running shoes, often the foot slips away, especially when running up the hill.
The loose sand is not steady enough.

This kind of "all terrain"-shoe is in La Paz not for sale.
But a dear friend is now in Canada and soon coming back to Mexico and bringing a pair of all terrain running shoes more fit for the Punta Boca dirt road.
Making the daily half marathons even a greater pleasure.

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Xmas xtra

2010-12-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve with the Gonzales.

As informal as it can be.
The women cooking a delicious meal.
But exceptionally the dinner is not served in the kitchen but on the big table in what could be considered their salon.

Who wants, joins and eats.
One or two though go to sleep.
Some eat later.
Nobody is dressed up.
There is nothing alcoholic.

But by gosh, they do have a good time together.
They don’t have much money and they don’t live in wealth but they are warm and caring for each other.

More and more Gumaro is the head of the family.
At 61 years of age he is the oldest now.
And highly respected.

The children are helping as much as they can.
Making the table, serving the food, cleaning the table.
And not one adult has to ask them.

At the end of the dinner there are presents.
Although it’s hard to earn money and not much comes in, the children all do get presents.
For some reason, the daughter of Christina called after her grandmother Lucretia, gets proportionally a lot of presents.
She gets actually pampered and why is this?
The other children though seem to know because not one is showing envy.

The dinner over and the presents unwrapped, they sit down comfortably and Norma prepares a whiskey soda for her father, for her uncle and for her brother.
And soon that makes the conversation lively.
Especially because Gumaro, when he is in the mood and Christmas and whiskey helps in that matter, starts talking: he is a great story teller.
Stories from his childhood: how his mother secretly dressed up as the devil to scare her children out in the field not to play in a laguna for fear of drowning.
The story has been told on different occasions but still tears come from Gumaro’s eyes as it makes him still laugh from his heart.
And everybody around him laugh with him: not so much for the story anymore but for seeing Gumaro so happy again.

This is Christmas in optima forma.
People together in peace and harmony: happy and content with each other.

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A child is an extra dimension

2010-12-24T08:44:00.001-08:00

Christmas is a good time at the rancho of the Gonzales family at Punta Boca del Salado in Baja California, Mexico.
This is for one reason only.
All the children of the large family are there.
And this brings a liveliness to the place that makes feel joy, hope and bliss.

Twice a day they want “classos”.
That we all sit around the table under the big palmtree leaved roof.
Each child having a piece of paper and a pen.
On top of the paper they write their name, the date and draw a large box.
This box serves to note the stars they are going to make when having accomplished the challenges successfully.

They chose themselves what subject they want: English, Spanish, mathematics, drawing.
And they chose themselves how many stars they have earned for the job they did.

What makes this teaching so interesting is to try to give as much independence to the child as possible.
It is absolutely authoritative to decide for a child how good or how bad the result of working is.
The child knows this very well and can decide him/herself how much should be awarded.
And the child should chose what it wants to do.
There are moments a child is for example more ready and in the mood to do mathematics.
Then why impose to want to teach English?

Another vital aspect to the teaching that makes it so interesting and such a joy is that children remain interested and eager to learn if the challenges are presented to them each time in a new and different way.
This asks creativity and inventiveness of the teacher.
The rule is, the more of this is put into it, the more will come out.
So, in fact the children are teaching the teacher also.
To be creative and inspiring.

Never a session with the children is ended without telling them:
muchas gracias, estudiantes.
And this is sincere because the children are adding a fantastic dimension to life.

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The vanishing farmer

2010-12-23T07:29:00.000-08:00

What makes any person think is the fact this blog reported on yesterday.
That Gumaro Gonzales in Punta Boca del Salado, Baja California, Mexico bought a 1997 Ford F250 pick up truck for $ 10.000 by exchanging it for a piece of his land.

According to the "Internet Autoguide" the retail value of this vehicle is about $ 6.000 but that is in the USA.
So the issue is not whether Gumaro Gonzales payed 66% too much for his new truck.
Many second hand cars are brought from the USA into Mexico because they do better prices here.

The issue we may want to look at is that Gumaro Gonzales was not able to pay with money for his new car.
In a normal economy a person works and makes money.
In a good economy a person makes more than he actually needs and this we call prosperity.
The financial flourishing makes the economy do better because the surplus is spend on purchasing new products.

In an economy that is doing well Gumaro Gonzales would be able to sell his cows to the butcher for such a good price that after a while he has enough cash to buy his new car.
Illustrating the economy is exploding.

But we live in a time of an imploding economy.
The price the butcher pays for meat to the supplier is so low these days that the ranchero cannot make money.
In fact, like this year when hardly any rain fell in the area where Gumaro Gonzales has his ranch and cattle, he needs to buy extra food to keep his cows alive and because of the high cost of this extra food and the low price the meat does his business is losing money.

A farmer that has to sell his land to operate his business, is a vanishing farmer.
Especially when the money that his land represents is spend on a car.
The vehicle will last only a certain amount of time and eventually end up in the junk yard.
Then the land is gone and the truck too, leaving Gumaro Gonzales with nothing.

To escape this dramatic destiny is to operate the new car in a way that it will assist in making money.
That it becomes instrumental in financial flourishing.
But this is not very likely to happen.
Because Gumaro Gonzales is a ranchero raising cattle and he will not and cannot change his trade.
He depends of the circumstances like the price of meat and the meteorological conditions.

However, the man who traded a $ 6.000 truck for a piece of land worth $ 10.000 might sell this later with profit.
Or build a holiday house on the land to sell this for big money to some tired retiree.
We live in a society these days in which some can still make money.
But a majority, who work in a traditional way, are slowly pushed out of prosperity and into economic misery.

But for the moment, Gumaro Gonzales is very happy and proud with his new car.

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Happy for a truck

2010-12-22T10:00:00.001-08:00

These days dear friend Gumaro Gonzales is a happy man.
He got himself a new car.
And he is very proud of it.

He bought the impressive vehicle through a friend who knows an American that brought the car down to Mexico.
It is a Ford F250, with a diesel engine, from 1997 and has 150.000 miles on the clock.

Gumaro paid $ 10.000 for the truck.
Not having cash money because the economy is doing so badly in Mexico, he traded a piece of land he owned to purchase the car.

It is a beautiful pick-up truck and still in very good shape.

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Punishing psychologists

2010-12-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the subject came by on this blog of treating deeply disturbed persons that commit horrific crimes in special psychiatric institutions.
More particularly, the role of experts that treat these unfortunate mentally disturbed persons in making the decision that society has nothing to fear of them anymore to set them free.
To assess that a murderer will not murder again.
A huge responsibility because when it goes wrong, someone dies.
Until now these experts work without ever to pay any price in case they were wrong.
They can conclude a killer won’t kill anymore and allow the person to return to society as if nothing has happened.
When this goes wrong, the expert is not fired.
The expert can even simply continue his job.

This is not a good situation.
If in this kind of work to be right or to be wrong doesn’t personally matter, we may doubt always the best decisions are made.

Therefore we must develop a system that the experts get personally involved when deciding to release a mentally disturbed person who has already killed.
To be sure they don’t take decisions that may cost the lives of others.
Like pilots in a plane.
They try always to make the best decisions and do not take risks not only for the safety of the passengers but to stay alive themselves.

The question now is what repercussion we can think of to have the experts in mental institutions housing lunatic killers work more safe for the society.

The solution is simple.
Experts that work in special psychiatric institutions where crazy killers are locked up and who decide to let one go because they believe he is OK now, will have two fingers amputated when the mentally disturbed person kills again in spite of the diagnosis that he is sane and safe.

Fervent and loyal blog readers may ask why two fingers?
Why not three fingers or the whole hand as they do in Sudan and Saudi Arabia?
Two fingers because it is a serious handicap but not too bad.
One can continue to work, blow the nose and eat a sandwich.
And such an expert has 5 options for making a mistake before to have lost all fingers which will be a most serious matter.

We can be sure that an expert who has to decide if a mentally disturbed person who has killed can be set free and return to society will think twice before to let the guy go if he realizes that in case it goes wrong he will lose two of his fingers.

Now someone in the back of the room may stand up and say that experts will become so prudent that hardly any crazy convict will be set free anymore.
That this may result in having persons locked up that could very well return to society no problem.
That is indeed very unfortunate but the other side of the coin is the story of yesterday: a guy who killed his mother and was set free by experts within a few years after this unbelievable crime to immediately murder a 77 year old man.
We must then balance the death of the 77 year old man with the suffering of the person who is locked up.
What is the worst ?
Would you care more for the locked up person and risk to be killed?
Is having to remain in a mental institution more serious then to be innocently murdered?

Right in front there is another person saying that amputating fingers is cruel, barbaric and uncivilized.
This is not true.
First of all, the amputation of the two fingers is a threat.
It will not happen when the expert is doing a good job.
Second, there are many jobs where losing one’s fingers is a daily danger.
Like carpenters and workers on oil platforms and in the metal industry.
So, losing fingers is a professional risk.
For a carpenter if he doesn’t pay good attention to what he is doing, then why not also for psychologists deciding a mentally disturbed person who killed can join us again?

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He killed his mother

2010-12-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

It happened 10 years ago.
The man was 36 years old at the time.
He killed his mother.

Soon after this horrific crime he was arrested and brought to justice.
Because of the peculiarity of the killing, he was diagnosed as mentally deeply confused and locked up in a special psychiatric hospital.

There, he was not free.
It was like a prison and he was undergoing all kinds of therapies as he was considered a sick man.

After a few years in this special psychiatric clinic and after intensive therapy, the psychological specialists came to the conclusion there was no danger this man would kill again.
He was set free.

Four years ago, as a free person, this man went to a meeting place for homosexuals.
He met there a 77 year old man and he killed him.

Soon after he was arrested and brought to justice once more.
Yesterday he was condemned to 15 years in prison after which he needs to return to the special psychiatric clinic.

The psychological experts now say that the danger this man may kill again is extremely high.
A diagnosis 180º opposite from what they said not too long ago.

Alfredo Gonzales of Rancho Punta Boca del Salado has a dog called Guante.
This dog is nice and friendly but he has a habit of running after goat or young cows to attack them, bite them in the neck and suck their blood till they are death.
Losing a goat or a young cow means for Alfredo Gonzales losing money.
He could kill Guante the dog as he is no use for the rancho and only creating havoc.
There is no way to change Guante: somehow he is just like that.
Because Alfredo Gonzales is a nice man he didn’t shoot Guante but keeps him tied to a long chain.
The dog can run up and down for 20 meters and that is the best he can get in life.
To keep the goats and young cows safe.

The mother of the man, he killed her.
To be a psychological expert and to conclude within a few years of this horrific crime the man is OK again and will not kill anymore is a daring decision.
And in a way an easy decision because when it is the wrong one, there are no consequences for the psychological expert.
Some new person may be killed, but never the psychological expert.
Nor will he get punished in any way for doing a lousy job.

Alfredo Gonzales is never thinking after Guante the dog has been chained for two years it may be time to have him roam the property again.
Because if he is wrong in his assessment of the dog, it is gonna cost him a goat or a young cow.

Hence, in the name of the 77 year old man that was murdered by the guy who was supposed to be mentally stable again, we should stop giving unlimited credit to the psychological experts responsible for a completely wrong diagnosis.
Stop giving them the opportunity to get away with their failure.
Because in a way they are murderers too.
A sanction must come for these psychological experts in case they are so badly wrong.
That somehow they must pay a price as well.
To make them more prudent.

Because it is better a murderer, who once killed his own mother, remains locked up although he may not kill again, then to take the risk and see the life of an innocent person ended.

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Nazis in caves

2010-12-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

When more and more Nazis in the Third Reich began to realize that the war would be lost, they prepared for the very different time to come.
A selected group of them were very idealistic and believed strongly in Nazism and wanted somehow to continue to practize the ideology.
To have it survive so that one day it could glory again.

Therefore deep in the South of Germany, in a mountainous area, they prepared a huge underground complex of caves with an entrance only a few people knew about for them to live and survive in.

At the right moment, in 1945, a large group of Nazis disappeared into these underground caves and continued a secret life.
They were never coming up to the surface anymore.
The men were self sufficient and because of the deprivation got deeper and deeper into their ideology.
Nazism developing in something stronger than an orthodox religion.

Several of the men were scientists and they realized that they did not really have a future underground.
Eventually they all would die and that would be the end of their beloved Nazism as well.
The solution they saw was to try to achieve eternal life.
That living would not end and that they could be in those caves as Nazis together for ever and ever.

All activities of these men became centered on extending life.
Avoiding to die.

There would have been a more natural and easy solution.
Raiding parties could have left the caves to look for women living in villages nearby to bring them back to breed children.
To have new generations of Nazis living in the subterranean spaces.

But the world outside did not exist anymore in the minds of the hiding Nazis.
Their view had turned completely inside.

Recently, by accident, the entrance to this complex of caves has been found.
And the result of the scientific work to create eternal life was discovered.
Surprisingly, the Nazi scientists had achieved something.

In different caves Nazi officers were standing.
In uniform and straight up.
Even talking when approached but they were Nazi slogans only.
Just permanently standing there as puppets and only able to say things from their Nazi ideology.

They were not dead but one could not say they were alive either.

The German officials have not made this discovery public.
They left everything as it was and have sealed off the entrance to the caves.

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JUMP !!!

2010-12-18T07:18:00.000-08:00

Tax Dollar Paradise

2010-12-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

The United States is the best country to live in.
Because the Government is absolutely insane.
Due to overspending the United States has a national debt now of 1.300 billion Dollars.
The US politicians have been spending like lunatics over the last years.
And liberating the financial markets in such a way that now the whole world is in an economic crises and suffering.

What is the solution to this serious problem?
In Greece and Ireland the same situation has occurred.
Their Governments have also been spending more money than was coming in.
Financing it by borrowing until the debt became too big and bankruptcy of the whole country was threatening.
The solution to this dramatic problem has been found in other European countries helping Ireland and Greece out by re-financing their debts.
But with the conditions that Ireland and Greece take strict and severe austerity measures.
Stop spending like idiots and raise taxes.

The USA takes another direction to solve their huge economic problems.
Instead of settling more favorably the debts, start charging higher taxes and limit spending seriously, the United States starts spending an extra 858 billion Dollars.
This was approved by the Senate yesterday.
Americans will pay lower taxes and this also for the rich, the very rich and the ultra rich.
In fact, the US Government starts subsidizing their citizens to the amount of 858 billion Dollars.
Inflating the national debt with 66 %.
The idea behind it is that when the US citizens have more money to spend the economy will start rolling coasting again.
There are two problems with this expectation that is an illusion.
The current economic crises has made most people afraid and scared.
They have learned the hard way it is better not to buy and spend like crazy customers but to save for a rainy day.
When the tax reduction results in more money in the pocket, most may go to savings account doing nothing for the economy.
The other problem, and a much more fundamental and serious one, is that the politicians envisage a future where we will be back like it was in 80’s and 90’s.
People making good money and spending like there was no end to it.
The consumer society in optima forma.
Capitalism and materialism and selfishness and unawareness about what is the cost to nature and the environment.
For the short term the USA may be economically the best country to live.
But it is heading for financial catastrophe.

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The dark side of life

2010-12-16T07:04:00.001-08:00

Dear friend Xavier whose 16 year old son is karate champion in his class of the Americas took the Fuso Szulc to a specialized place where they fix air conditioning systems of cars and trucks.
The place was called “Kiki” because the sympathetic owner’s name is Enrique.

The Fuso Szulc has behind the grill on the front a connection for hoses to measure the pressure in the air conditioning system.
These hoses were applied and Enrique looked at the gauges to see what was happening.

His first diagnosis was that the system was leaking.
The pressure was too low.
And if the pressure is too low, the air conditioner is not working.

It looked the Fuso Szulc was on an infuse.
Being sick and weak and needing nutritious fluids.
After having safely negotiated the traveller for many miles on merciless roads.

Kiki used a same method when there might be a gas-leak in the house.
Water mixed with washing powder applied with a brush on the connections of the pipe.
And indeed, a tiny leak was found where a pipe entered the small AC radiator.
This was opened and a small rubber ring was found and replaced.
No more leaking.
The AC system was filled with gas again, brought to the correct pressure, the engine started and the AC switched on.
Nothing…
The compressor not working.

Kiki’s new diagnosis: your compressor is broken.
Of a four year old truck that had the AC system used very seldom.

Great!
Besides the trouble with the registration of the truck with the DMV in South Dakota, now the compressor has entered the portfolio labeled: “The dark side of life”.

The compressor broken is one thing, getting it replaced is another matter.
There are no Mitsubishi Fuso trucks sold and therefore maintained and serviced in Mexico.
No parts are available.
Kiki said, drive to the USA and have it fixed.

The good news about the bad news is that driving the Fuso Szulc with a broken AC compressor is no problem.
Instead the windows are opened and fresh air enters the cabin.
The old fashioned way that is even more fuel efficient.
For the moment, the broken AC system can be put out of the mind.

And an effort must be made to eliminate also the annoyance.
It annoys that a four year old truck, that was on one location not moving most of the time and therefore had its AC system work rarely, gets a broken compressor.
Besides, when it was working it hardly was able to cool the cabin and many times complains have been filed at the Mitsubishi dealer in San Diego.
Who said each time that nothing was the matter with the AC system…

But in Mexico the sky is blue and the sun is shining and today is a beautiful drive through the mountains called the Sierra de la Laguna to go and live the coming weeks with the dear friends the Gonzales family next to the Sea of Cortez.
That prospect warms the heart and for that warmth no AC is needed.

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A warm heart

2010-12-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

In the body is a heart that beats and makes the blood circulate.
But we also believe it can change of temperature.
We can get a cold heart and a warm one.
This is when things happen around us.
Or because of what people do to us.

Yesterday the heart was being warmed tremendously.
Many responses, also by personal e-mail, were received because of the complications with the registration of the Fuso Szulc in the USA.
In South Dakota they have changed the law and now to change one’s address or to renew the vehicle registration one needs to have a Social Security number.
That so many fervent and loyal blog readers are concerned warms the heart and feels like having support, concern and solidarity.
Therefore many thanks to all of you and to the South Dakota law makers.

Another heart warming experience yesterday was the interview with the Colombian radio station “W Radio”.
Very nice people and truly interested in the subject and the project.
For sure many free books will now go to listeners of “W Radio” who request a copy from the website http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org

What is truly warming the heart are messages that are received from people who now have the book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
Spontaneously, enthusiastic, like this one yesterday:

“BRAVO ¡ GREAT MASTER ¡ just got the book .Just BEAUTIFULLLLLLLLL ¡¡¡¡REALLY PROUD OF YOU AND TOUCHED BY YOUR PROJECT …..”

Today the heart might be warmed or might catch a cold: the air conditioning of the Fuso Szulc is broken and together with dear friend Xavier an expert in fixing truck AC’s will be visited.
To see what is the problem and if it can be repaired.

On the way therefore...

Is there a helpful lawyer among us?

2010-12-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

It is more than painful to have to rip oneself away from a location where such a happy time has been experienced over the last 37 days.
Positive thoughts about the new reality coming up to live in have to be forced into the mind to avoid becoming too sentimental.

The switch from a paradise like situation on a deserted beach of the Pacific Ocean to the one of city life in a bustling Mexican society came with at least one dramatic shock.
Caused by a new law in South Dakota, USA.

As many fervent and loyal blog readers may know, the Fuso Szulc is registered in this state of South Dakota.
Four years ago this happened with the help of the mailing company called Americas Mailbox.
And as of then, each year the registration of the Fuso Szulc was arranged by Americas Mailbox with the Department of Motor Vehicles in South Dakota no problem.

But now Americas Mailbox is going to change their office.
A tremendous hassle for all their clients because each one needs to inform everybody about a new address.

The problem now is that also the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) needs to be informed about the new address.
This is when the new South Dakota law kicks in.
In order to change the address one must show now a South Dakota driver's license or Social Security numbers.
This is part of the new Real Id Act and the Driver's Privacy and Protect Act.
Having a passport of the Netherlands and a residence permit and driving license of Mexico there is no way to show a South Dakota driver's license or Social Security numbers.

What dooms up in front is a high wall of bureaucracy.
There is a law and no exceptions can probably be made.
An exception being that a European might want to own a car in the USA to use every time that country is visited.

Why does a person need to be an American with a South Dakota driver's license or Social Security numbers to own a car in the USA?

It is a difficult situation and already Americas Mailbox has written:

“Unfortunately there is no way around it. We do understand your situation here at the office but the state sees it differently. You can call the state and explain it to them and see if they would work with you on it but there are no guarantees. Their number is 605-773-3541 and they are on Central Time”.

In other words Americas Mailbox says: dear customer, you are on your own…

It is an interesting question what to do if South Dakota doesn’t want to extend the registration of the Fuso Szulc.
Because the owner cannot show a South Dakota driver's license or Social Security number.

It is easy for South Dakota to make a law and have new conditions but what do they offer for cases like the Fuso Szulc?
Is the only solution to sell the expedition vehicle and use the money to buy a shack to live in a Mexican village?

Is there a lawyer among the fervent and loyal blog readers who may be of help?

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Departure

2010-12-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

After 37 days the retreat comes to an end.
No more food and drinking water.
Forced to return to town.

Having to leave El Triple:

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Round and square

2010-12-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

After lunch that consists of two meagre slices of toast, one with cheese and one with raspberry marmalade, a glass of grape juice and an apple to finish, there is always a 30 minute siesta.
A fantastic time of total relaxation and a special visit to the land of the thousand dreams.

After waking up from this soothing siesta there is always a walk along the Pacific beach on the fine and warm Mexican sand.
One day to the north, the next day to the south.

A good time during this walk to reflect and contemplate.

Like yesterday when the thought presented itself in the mind that everything in nature is round.
And that whatever is square, is man made.

This thought, how obvious it seems, landed in the mind as a tremendous new truth.

Share this deep going realization, fervent and loyal blog readers!
Everything we see in nature is round.
The Earth itself, the sun, the moon and the planets.
But also the sand grain of the beach and the trunk of the tree.
The egg of the bird and the shell of the sea.
The wing of the dragonfly and the nose of the coyote.

There is nothing in nature that is square.
Nothing is a plane figure with four equal straight sides and four right angles.

If an object is square it is because it is the result of human thinking. planning and construction.
In nature things are as a result of evolution.
If in the process of evolution it was discovered that to make things square would be more efficient and give a higher chance of survival, it definitely would have happened.
It didn’t but that was not an inspiration, example and a lesson for the human beings.

Take your own computer.
The screen where you read this blog.
Is it round?
It has been made square and the consideration for that decision has been reasons of efficiency.
It is more practical to have a square computer screen instead of a round one.

That observation can make us wonder about the sense that efficiency and practicality makes.
In how far that harmonizes with the cosmos.
The fact is it doesn’t.
We are overpopulating this world and rapidly destroying it.
If nature had been left alone, if it had been able to be here on Earth without the presence of human beings, it definitely would not have suffered of overpopulation and destruction of its own environment.
Nature is in balance and harmony with itself and therefore everything there is round.
But we humans are terminating ourselves with a square.

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The castle will surrender

2010-12-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

Hackers have been around for some years now.
Divided in two groups.
One group consists of rather young and innocent young persons who like to experiment with computers, software and networks.
The other group are professional hackers with criminal intentions.

But when Julian Asange was arrested many persons capable of hacking but making until now no trouble with their skills to society became active.

Attacking the websites of Amazon.com, PayPal and other companies as a revenge for how the authorities are handling the Wikileaks issue.

In 1968 there was a revolt in France of students protesting the policy of the Government.
By the thousands they disturbed and wrecked public life.
There were barricades and fires in the streets of Paris.
For weeks the students fought the police.
Students who until then had been quiet and living submissively in the context imposed by the ruling generation.

It developed into a gigantic confrontation but eventually negotiations took place between the Government and representatives of the students.
This resulted in dramatic policy changes and France has never been the same.
One of the student leaders in 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit is now a member of the European Parliament.

There is a synchronism between the French revolution of 1968 and the confrontation now taking place between the authorities and Wikileaks, the hackers and their sympathizers.
History shows that evolving societies grow with hiccups.
It is quiet for a while but in fact in a society aspects grow and become bigger and bigger until a social explosion takes place.
Now we have the privilege of witnessing a new eruption and when the Wikileak issue has quieted down, the world will never be the same again.
The whole world, because revolutions, or sudden and drastic evolvement, cannot be exclusively national anymore.
This because of the Internet.

What we see, and this happened with each confrontation in societies in the past, is that the ones in power try at any price to hold on to it.
Opposing change.
Unable to admit that things had been done wrong.
And this is the real reason for the confrontation, the conflict, the trouble and the hassle.

Let’s face it: what is Wikileaks?
By itself nothing at all.
Why Wikileaks has become a worldwide phenomenon are several reasons:
The Governmental systems with their politicians, rulers, diplomats and civil servants have had a way of practicing their policies in a non-transparent and double faced way.
In a way as was common in the 19th century.
Believing that secrecy was a right, democratic, justified and the best way.
Ignoring that at the same time society has changed.
Transparency has been coming to us through Internet changing the way of socially operating.

We all know that the Government of the USA has made an effort to keep on the one hand their policy secrets in the dark, while opening it more to their employees.
Resulting in over 3 million Americans having access to secret information.
No problem until there was US Army Private Bradley Manning who leaked.
Or whistleblowed.
Offering the information to Wikileaks who published it on their platform.

This was all possible because of the new ways of communication.
Computers, internet, websites.

How does the ones in power response?
Like the authorities in Paris in 1968.
Bradley Manning is in prison.
Julian Asange is in prison.
Hackers are arrested and face years in prison.
Secrecy is perfected.
Result?
More and more people get involved to fight for the new step in the process how the society is imagined to be.
It can’t be stopped.
But the authorities are too deep in enjoying their power.
It will take more confrontation but eventually the castle will surrender.

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The beach of El Triple at 5 o'clock

2010-12-10T09:56:00.001-08:00

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The spider is dead.

2010-12-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

For weeks now a spider has lived in the door opening of the Fuso Szulc.
Outside the screen door waking up as soon as it is becoming dark.
To fix the web and then wait patiently.

When it is dark, insects come to the screen door because of the light inside and many end up in the web of the smart spider.

Every evening the spider could be seen becoming active and eventually it classified as a major presence in the Fuso Szulc menagerie.
A daily show suggesting the spider is like a pet.

Over the weeks the intelligence of the spider, to make use of the light and understanding how this attracts flying insects, could be seen to have impressive results.
The spider growing bigger and bigger.
His body becoming fat.

But this morning a peculiar situation.
The fat spider dead in its web.
But accompanied by a similar spider.
Much younger and smaller.
Alive and demonstrating concern for the big dead fellow spider.

How does that work with spiders?
How do they reproduce?
Is the new spider a baby of the big one?

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Money thrown into the wind

2010-12-08T07:56:00.000-08:00

The Fuso Szulc is equipped with a Davis Vantage Vue weather center.

Once arrived at a location where a considerable amount of time will be spend, the Integrated Sensor Suite is erected on a pole outside.

As of then the wind speed is shown on a console inside the Fuso Szulc as well as the outside temperature, the barometric pressure, possible rainfall in cc and the humidity.

This is about the third weather center that is in use: the two former ones, one from Oregon Scientific and one from LaCrosse Technology all broke down eventually.
They were about $ 150 each and lasted only a short time.

Therefore, eventually, the decision was made to simply get a semi professional weather center of high quality.
This became the Davis Vantage Vue costing $ 355.

It is a wonderful weather center but happiness didn’t last long.
Within a month it started malfunctioning.

On the Sensor Suite outside is a solar panel charging a build in battery for power at night.
This now, is not working.
The whole thing sends data only when the extra back-up battery is installed using that energy or when the sun shines.

Of course the help desk of the company Davis has been contacted to ask why a $ 355 weather center is not operating properly.
Their answer is that they have no idea why there is this problem.
They made one suggestion, to reset the Sensor Suite by keeping it in the absolute dark for 24 hours, but that is not the solution.

Recently, December 2, Davis was informed again about the malfunctioning, but no reply yet.

What is feared is that the Sensor Suite will need to go back to the manufacturer and from Mexico that is a lot of hassle.
Especially getting it back because Mexican Customs may charge the usual heavy import taxes or, like often, the parcel may get lost.

So now the reflection in the mind is why for heaven’s sake $ 355 was spent to want to know from where the wind blows.
Why not please live with only what there is?

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Voices speaking inside the head

2010-12-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes people commit terrible crimes.
And after they have been arrested they explain they had been hearing voices in their head giving instructions to commit those crimes.

It seems that hearing voices in the head is something people that have schizophrenia experience.
Fortunately there is medication that schizophrenic people can take to stop the voices.

Often it is wondered how that exactly is, to hear voices in the head.
Because normally, when voices are heard, they are coming from outside the head.
Hearing voices in the head, is it like someone is talking standing nearby?
Maybe there is a fervent and loyal blog reader who is schizophrenic and who can explain how this works?

This subject of voices in the head came up because of the side effects being in retreat long time.
It is now in its 32nd day and consequently meager food is from the freezer and only a few apples are left.
Therefore, logic processes in the mind suggest to break up camp and go to town.
More so because two radio stations want to do interviews through a landline telephone connection and they are waiting for their interviewee to come out of isolation.

But each time when logic is suggesting to leave El Triple, a strong voice inside the head starts screaming.
Insisting loudly it doesn’t want to go.
Saying it is so beautiful and peaceful and harmonious at El Triple that it would be foolish and stupid to break off the retreat.
This point is made so vigorously and with so much insistence that it cannot be ignored and refused.

And it makes sense.
These days it is so lovely at El Triple.
There is not much wind nor any clouds.
If the mean northwestern wind would blow mercilessly as it often does or if there would be depressing dark clouds making it a miserable location, how easy it would be to pack things and go.

The loveliness of El Triple these days, and the benefits felt of being in retreat for over 31 days, are the pro’s that put the contra’s totally into the shadow.

The radio stations can wait.
It won’t harm to have only little and meager food for some days.

So the voice heard in the head is followed.
Because it is making more sense than the voice speaking in the name of logic.
No medication needed yet.

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Last night

2010-12-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

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Doug Stanhope is funny

2010-12-05T07:18:00.001-08:00

One of the great things of the USA is that there are comedy clubs.
Something unknown in Europe.
They are small theaters where people sit at tables and drink watching a stage where one person is telling stories that make the audience laugh.
It is called stand-up comedy.

The Fuso Szulc is equipped with XM Satellite Radio that has over a 100 channels.
Two of them are dedicated to stand-up comedy.
”Raw Dog Comedy” and “Laugh USA”.
One may wonder why they have two channels with stand-up comedy.
It is out of necessity because many stand-up comedians use rough language.
There are guys who use in almost every sentence of their comedy routine the word “f**ck.
So they are on ”Raw Dog Comedy” and the others who have correct language saying nothing inappropriate are on “Laugh USA”.

It may be not a surprise that in the Fuso Szulc the favorite channel and most liked stand-up comedians are on ”Raw Dog Comedy”.
Every night, when landed in bed and before sleep comes, it is ”Raw Dog Comedy” that is listened to.
Because it has been discovered that laughing before going to sleep helps to have a very good night of rest.
The laughing relaxes and makes the thinking center around absurdity and humor, which is often the same.

What one hears on ”Raw Dog Comedy” are recordings made in those comedy clubs.
These recordings were made by the stand-up comedian who releases them on a CD.
It is business: a way of making a living besides the payment for the act in the club.
This makes it therefore often not very funny.
Not much to laugh.
Because the stand-up comedian arranges for the taping of the show, in order to get a successful CD, that the audience is super enthusiastic.
Before the show they have been instructed to laugh as much as they can.
Even if the stand-up comedian makes a joke that is not very funny at all, the audience laughs as if it is the best joke made ever.
This is very annoying and the stand-up comedian sinks immediately in the ranking.

For over two years at the top of this ranking is a stand-up comedian by the name of Doug Stanhope.

A 43-year old guy from Worcester, Massachusetts who is very successful and who has a large following of fans.
His trademark is to be on stage smoking a cigarette and drinking beer presenting his indignation about things happening in society and this in a very funny way.

Stanhope is not only intelligent and really funny, he has a very wide vocabulary and an intriguing way of talking.
But most important is that he is indignant about crucial issues in society.
Like legalizing marijuana or abortion.
This makes him very controversial and many of his outbursts are therefore not on XM Radio’s ”Raw Dog Comedy”.
One has to go to YouTube or buy his CD’s.

Take his view on Xmas.
He believes it has become nothing more but a shopping spree event.
For most people it is not a religious and holy moment for spiritual celebration anymore.

About Xmas he writes on his website:

“Just a quick holiday note to remember that Christmas is not about crashing around Wal-Mart and Best Buy hoarding garbage for people you don't even like.
It's not even about family, friends, pretty lights or drummer boys.”

So, for Xmas, Doug Stanhope has designed a T-shirt he offers for sale:

Of which he says:

“Christmas is about Jesus and your responsibility is dispelling the whole ridiculous idea of him.
Don't buy this t-shirt for someone as a X-mas gift.
Buy it for yourself to wear and upset other people who - in spite of all logic and reason - still believe in such dull-minded hogwash”.

*********************************************

To learn more about Doug Stanhope, click on:
http://www.dougstanhope.com/

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This morning

2010-12-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

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The corrupted mind

2010-12-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

Two days ago sitting in front of the Fuso Szulc on the self build terrace overlooking the bay of El Triple and seeing the waves of the Pacific Ocean roll in, the head was turned and a field came into view.
A green field surrounded by rows of bushes covering the rolling hills.

It was realized that a visit to this location had happened before.
With someone there had been a picnic on that field some time ago.

But then the thinking reached a barrier.
Was that field there or was it a memory?
This enigma was quickly solved: there are no green fields to see at El Triple.
In 2010 there has hardly been any rainfall: nature is as dry and sordid as ever.

The thinking reached a new stage: the visual memory of the green field, was it a memory of a green field that actually exists somewhere or was it a memory of a field that had been seen in a dream?
There the thinking stalled.
Because the answer could not be found.

For over an hour life became paralyzed searching in the mind if ever that green field had been really visited.
With who then had that picnic been?
Where could that green field be?
But if it had been in a dream, what had the dream been about?
How recently had that dream been?
And why would that detail of the dream come suddenly so strongly into the consciousness?

Eventually this intensive process of contemplation was halted.
It could not come to a satisfactory conclusion.
No determination if it was a memory of a place that really exists or a memory of a green field from a dream.

As of then, there is a certain worry.
If in the mind it cannot be known anymore if a memory is from the past reality or from an old dream, thinking becomes a most unreliable activity.
And disturbing because a memory can initiate a feeling.
A mood and emotions.
If a memory makes sad or happy but is a memory coming from dreams, it is the non-reality forcing upon us a feeling.
Corrupting an essential aspect of us human beings.
It can be wonderful and healing to remember events from the past with its accompanying emotions.
But if those events get mixed up with often absurd contents from dreams we unwillingly remember, we are in fact lost.

If we are sure it is a memory from the past that really happened, there is no problem.
But if it is a green field from a dream, we are pushed out of balance.

But maybe this is what a retreat, now in its 28th day, is doing.
The awareness gets so high and the space to think so big, that contradictions, faults and paradoxes get noticed in the thinking process.
Which is a good thing.
Thinking is great when playing chess but not to live spiritually.
When flaws are discovered in the thinking process, it becomes more easy to distance oneself from that unreliable activity.
Once thinking stops, pure life begins.

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phishing feeble fishes

2010-12-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Probably many fervent and loyal blog readers experience the same phenomenon.
To receive e-mails asking for help.

It may be the son of a former high ranking politician in some obscure African country who needs help to channel millions of dollars safely away offering a bonus when helping.

Or it may be one of your friends who is visiting a foreign country and was robbed of everything and now has to pay a high hotel bill asking to help out by transferring by Western Union a sum of money.

Or it may be a person who claims to be terminally ill and wants to donate the heritage to a foundation.
Like Mrs Nestoria Vasquez Relevoa who writes the following e-mail:

Dear Friend,

My name is Mrs Nestoria Vasquez Relevoa ,a General merchant in the United States of America ,Originally from Philippine , but taking Treatment in Tokyo Japan now, I have been diagnosed with Breast cancer (117.7) and Colorectal cancer (42.7) cancer that was discovered very late due to lack of caring For my health. I have only about a few months to live according to medical experts.

I am looking for someone reliable and trusted that can use my ($6,200M)for the less privileges and orphanage homes. Since i can’t survive this illness. Please you can contact me through this
Email address:vasquez_relevoa1@live.co.uk

Warm Greetings from,
Mrs Nestoria Vasquez Relevoa.

What is so amazing about these e-mails is that it seems that there are people who believe it is a true and sincere request.
Who do not get the idea it is a scam and phishing.

If nobody would respond to an e-mail like the one above, this nonsense would stop eventually.
But it seems it still leads to results.
Innocent and more probably naive people who are touched by the story.
They get involved and end up seeing that their savings have disappeared.

It is known that these cyber-thieves somehow manage to obtain mailing lists.
An e-mail like the one above is send to thousands and thousands of persons.
The logic is that among the thousands and thousands of people, at least one is unaware and naive.
Who will respond to be plundered.

To write and send the above e-mail is a matter of an hour.
A handy software program like DirectMail sends automatically a message to as many addressees as you like.
Therefore, it is an easy job and the more people get the message, the higher the chance to find an innocent victim.
But in the meantime thousands and thousands of people are bothered receiving and reading this e-mail.
The phishers can’t care less.

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NASA has news from 1689

2010-12-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

In 1689 the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens wrote a book in Latin called “Cosmostheoros”.

This translates into “The theory of the Cosmos” and contains his speculations on the construction of the universe and the habitability of the planets as deduced from his own observations and those of other astronomers in his days.
This book, the “Cosmostheoros” was an immediate success: shortly after the Latin edition of the Cosmotheoros was published by the The Hague publisher Adriaan Moetjens, translations appeared in English (1698) and in Dutch (1699).
In the following years, translations also appeared in French (1702), German (1703), Russian (1717) and in Swedish (1774).

“Cosmostheoros” is an amazing book because Huygens explained in 1689 that water could be found on other planets.
And life as well.

He even explained how we should imagine plants and animals on other planets:

Plants and Animals on the Surface of the Planets, that deserve as well to be provided for by their Creator as ours do: but why must they be of the same nature with ours?
Nature seems to court variety in her Works, and may have made them widely different from ours either in their matter or manner of Growth, in their outward Shape, or their inward Contexture; she may have made them such as neither our Understanding nor Imagination can conceive.

And Huygens goes on to prove that this theory is correct.

It is a good idea to keep the “Cosmostheory” in mind when tomorrow NASA holds a press conference promising exciting news.
It will be about life on other planets but if we realize that this is known as of 1689, over 300 years, the excitement NASA is trying to create around the news conference is totally unjustified.
But NASA depends on money from the US-Government and the more relevant NASA seems, the better are their chances for funding.
So, tomorrow, NASA’s new discovery is about whipping cream.

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Hullabaloo on the deserted beach

2010-11-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Is it a quiet and relaxed time here at El Triple in Baja California, Mexico?
Yes and no.
Of course being in nature and far away from noisy traffic, nervous people and irresistible enticements is of a paradise-like quality.
That is the yes.
But because the Fuso Szulc is equipped with satellite internet connection, the world of people enters at El Triple nevertheless.
That is the no.
One of the speakers at TED did a lecture after he had voluntarily stopped being on the Internet for 40 days.
It had changed his life, he claimed.
That is easy to imagine: one has only to go back in time and memorize how life was 20 years ago.

But a lot can be said for going along with modern and new inventions and technologies.
Not to reject them but to try to find a way to incorporate them in life and work in a harmonious way.
So that opportunities and possibilities grow while inner peace and balance remains.

This is one of the exciting challenges currently presenting itself.
Because the project “The most beautiful people in the world” is turning into a snowball rolling down a slope gaining momentum and volume.

For example, yesterday this came on line:

A much frequented website in Central and South America.
Immediately the visits to the website http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org rose to over 1.800 people.

And e-mails started pouring in, like this one:

Good morning Michel, my name is Juliana P., I´m the international producer for W Radio in Colombia - South America. We have read your story about your project of The Most Beautiful People in The World, and we would like to know if it´s possible to schedule a telephonic interview with you to talk about this project, how did you come up with this idea, the reactions, discuss about different stories etc.

I Don´t know exactly where are you located rigth now, but if it´s possible to talk to you, just to let you know that our show goes from 4 pm to 8 pm NY time, so anytime that suits you the better between these hours, will work for us.

I really hope we can make it, it´s a great story that we´d love to diffuse to all our listeners!

This happening in the solitude of El Triple while deeply in retreat.
On the one side total meditativeness, on the other side total excitement.

The strategy applied in this remarkable situation is to not be carried away by all the hullabaloo surrounding the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.
To remain centered and to constantly realize it is all fantastic, spectacular and great but relative and temporary as well.
Therefore the time behind the computer and on the Internet is limited: a self imposed regime of only three hours a day is applied.
To remain sane and with both feet on the sand of the beach.

***************************************************
Check the project “The most beautiful people in the world” for Central and South America by clicking on:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2010/11/101125_las_personas_mas_lindas.shtml

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Unable to leave

2010-11-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

We have reached now November 29 and in the northern hemisphere this has brought winter time.

This can be clearly noticed at El Triple as well.
In the beginning of this retreat on October 9, the sun was rising at 7.25 am.
Now it comes above the horizon at 7.55 am.
During the day its orbit lower than weeks ago.

This makes the daily temperatures go down seriously.
Especially at night.
On October 10 at night it was 17.8º C. (64º F)
Needing one blanket only.
Last night it was a freezing 11.2º C. (52º F)
Sleeping in a T-shirt under a blanket and a duvet.

This is all not too dramatic because during the day in the sunshine temperatures go up reaching a nice 25º C (77º F).

But winter also brings wind to El Triple and this is a factor that is the most dominant.
The wind carries the temperature of the water of the Pacific Ocean that is very cool now.
And every day it blows more violently and aggressively.
Starting early in the morning and continuing long after sunset.
Daily the wind speeds are reaching now around 30 kilometers per hour (10 mph).

Any sensible person would easily come to the decision that to live in those circumstances is not pleasant and that it is time to go.
Time to move on to a situation that is more comfortable and meteorologically friendly.

This is easy to do.
The retreat at El Triple can be ended to pack everything in the Fuso Szulc and go.
To drive to the other side of the peninsula Baja California to stay with the Gonzales family along the Sea of Cortez.
Where it is warmer and more pleasant.

But being in the second period of the retreat, now in day 24, this is not as easy to do as it is written down in a blog.
It is like being under a spell.
Enchanted and mesmerized by the unique aspects of living in the current simplicity and purity.
Unable to give this up yet.
To wrestle free yet of the uplifted existence.

Besides, there is still food in the fridge enough for another week at least.
The water tank is at 50 % of capacity, the propane tank at 44 %.
There is still about 30 liters (8 gallons) of drinking water.

Hence, the violent wind and the cool temperatures are accepted: there is no other way.

Yesterday, while hiding for the strong wind down in the dry river bed reading a book, the sound of a car was heard.
Checking who had come, it was a rental car with a man from Paris, France and a woman from Montreal, Canada.
Living with two children in San Francisco and now on holidays in Mexico.
The man, called François, was into kite surfing.
They were staying on the east coast of Baja California but the wind there was from the south and not strong enough.
But at El Triple they found the ideal location for kite surfing.
A sandy beach, no rocks in the water and a strong northwest wind.
François happy and Hélène happy because François was happy he could kite surf.

For them the wind was fabulous and the water not cold.
Hélène was even bathing in the ocean.

It suddenly threw another light on the location of El Triple and the current conditions.
The wind and the temperature experienced as negatives and enemies were observed as able to be also friends.
Let’s stay some more days.

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crippling the Internet

2010-11-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

Above us in orbit are satellites and many of them are used for communication.
Like the SatMex 5 satellite.
It is the one used by the Internet system of the Fuso Szulc.
On the roof of the expedition vehicle is a satellite disk to which is connected a modem.
The satellite disk and modem can send and receive signals that are linking to the control center of the company HughesNet somewhere in the USA.
This is made possible by the SatMex 5: it receives and transmits from the one party to the other.
HughesNet put the signals on the regular Internet system and voila, the daily blog is published and fervent and loyal blog readers can read it on their computer screen.

Basically it is a good system.
Because one can be anywhere in parts of Canada, the USA and Mexico and with the satellite disk and modem remain on the Internet.
In the case of the Fuso Szulc, the modem is powered by solar energy, hence literally anywhere access to Internet is guaranteed.

Sometimes there are problems though with this system.
For example, HughesNet can suddenly change the transponder without warning and then suddenly access to Internet is gone.

But the main complain is the speed.
Every fervent and loyal blog reader can Google on the word SatMex5 and find many horror stories about the slow speeds that are suffered.

This is the case with the Fuso Szulc as well.
Certain times of day loading web pages is extremely slow.
Watching TV through website simply impossible.
Skype calls breaking off.

This is at certain times of days because the cause is twofold.
One is that the satellite SatMex5 by now is of outdated technology.
More modern satellites have higher speeds.
But the main reason for the slow speeds is that too many people are put on the satellite.
The more people use the system, the more down the speed goes.
For example, watching TV from a website is only possible after 9.00 pm when most people on the East coast of the USA have gone to sleep and are off their computers.

This situation also demonstrates how business is done in the USA.
When one sees the publicity HughesNet is making for their satellite Internet system transmission speeds are promised that are luring and impressing.
But the reality is that those speeds can never be experienced.
Because HughesNet is not limiting the amount of people using the satellite.
The more people on the satellite the more money HughesNet makes and when this means the speed drops dramatically they can’t care less.

Meanwhile in Europe something exciting has been happening.
A British company called Avanti Communications Group has launched on November 26 the HYLAS 1 satellite with a French Ariane 5 rocket from French Guyana.

This satellite will offer 10 Mbps speeds to some 350,000 customers.
10 Mbps !!
This compares to what HughesNet is fanfaring on their website. They offer: 1 Mbps..
Saying in small letters: “When you connect to the Internet using HughesNet, the upload and download speeds you experience will vary based on a variety of factors including the configuration of your computer, the number of concurrent users, network or Internet congestion, the speed of the Websites you are accessing, and other factors. Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of service are not guaranteed. During peak hours, actual upload and download speed will likely be lower than speeds indicated”.

In other words, and this is based on personal experience, forget about the 1 Mbps.
It is more likely to be 79 Kbps.

10 Megabytes per second or 79 Kilobytes per second: it is a world of difference.

Avanti is also developing a second satellite, called HYLAS 2 set to launch in 2012.
Which is to provide wireless high speed broadband in the Middle East and Africa as well as Europe.
Meanwhile in the USA the people remain in the Stone Age: while next year in Europe and in two years in Africa and the Middle East they happily surf the Internet at 10 Megabytes per second, the Americans are still digitally challenged at 79 Kilobytes per second.

Hey Avanti, put one up here, please!

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Burlesque BBC

2010-11-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

A peculiar situation has arrived on the doorsteps of the Fuso Szulc at El Triple in Mexico.
And for the moment it is not clear what to think of it.
If it is good or if it is bad.

The situation is this:
last week the BBC Worldservice, in their program Outlook, had a radio-documentary on the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.
There were interviews with participants in China and France, the project was explained and also the photographer was asked about his motivation and experiences.
It was a program very well made: interesting, appealing and balanced.
Listeners all over the world heard this program.

But then the next thing happened.
The makers of the program Outlook of the BBC Worldservice decided to also do a project on the most beautiful people.
They asked listeners to send the BBC Worldservice pictures of most beautiful people.
Like your daughter or your Mom.
To publish on the website of the BBC Worldservice and on their Facebook page.

It developed into a campaign and the last seven days, repeatedly on the BBC Worldservice, listeners were asked to send in pictures.
They even had interviews with persons that had been sending in pictures like a woman from the UK who had the opinion that her sheep was the most beautiful.

Now you can see many pictures of most beautiful people on the BBC Worldservice website as a result of their own campaign.
Fortunately reference is still made to the original project “The most beautiful people in the world” and a link is offered to go to http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org

What to think of this?
Is this fabulous for the project “The most beautiful people in the world” generating more publicity and interest?
Spreading more the message of empathy and positivity?
Or is it an infringement of copyright and a blunt demonstration of hijacking a successful idea of someone else?

What do the fervent and loyal blog readers have as an opinion in this matter?

*************************************************

Clicking on this link brings you to the website where you can see the pictures and listen to the program:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2010/11/101126_outlook_your_beautiful_people.shtml

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A pregnant man

2010-11-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

And then the idea grounded that the body was becoming too fat.
Especially in the front where the belly is, it looked like a swelling.

Result of an unhealthy life style during the four months in Europe.
Eating in restaurants too frequently where food is rarely healthy.
Drinking too often high calorie red wine in alcoholic quantities.
Eating too often large bars of white chocolate with whole hazelnuts and the Dutch speciality “Klene’s muntdrop”, a sweetened licorice.
And failing to do the daily exercises and the running.

To return after four months of this extravaganza to Mexico looking like being in the fourth month of pregnancy.

That is not tolerated.
And once back in the own and preferred life style, a rigorous regime was implemented.

No more chocolate, no more sweets, no more alcohol, no more soft drinks and no more fat food.
Additionally, every day exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles, one hour walks and 45 minute runnings.

Also the food intake is seriously limited.
For lunch, always four slices of toasted bread were eaten.
Two with cheese and two with marmalade.
Now it is only one with cheese and one with marmalade.
And not more then one glass of fruit juice.
Lunch ended with a prune and an apple.

In the evening, dinner is only some cooked vegetables with a piece of tofu.
No rice, no potatoes, no lentils, no pasta.

The result is disappointing.
And makes suffering.
Because the whole day there is this feeling of being hungry.
The body asks and screams for more food.
Which it is not getting.

And how is the pregnancy ?
Well, if the body is put in front of the mirror in a state of total relaxation the pregnancy is not four months anymore but probably three months.
But if the body is ordered to stand up straight with all the muscles activated, spectators see a young God.

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Portraits made in 1986

2010-11-25T08:05:00.001-08:00

Success for the project “The most beautiful people in the world”

2010-11-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

Since the publication of the photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” two weeks ago, over 400 copies have been distributed to persons all over the world.
They had been going to the website http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org to obtain their free copy or to purchase the superb “DeLuxe Edition”.
This is an overwhelming start and now the expectation is justified that the whole edition might be gone soon.

Persons that received the book spontaneously send e-mails to share their excitement.

“Wonderful and inspiring”.

“Beautiful and moving at the same time. My heart opens fully”

“It is great to see among all the negative reporting we see in the press something that focuses on the beauty of the people”

“I’ve seen already many pages from your wonderful book but I save the rest to absorb eevry day
some positivity.”

“Thanks for this extraordinary project: you made the world a lot more beautiful”

“Hans loves it as much as I do. you must be very excited and proud of your work, it is truly unique!

“The book was in 2day's mail. Really fantastic!!”

“I just received the book and it is splendid !! A beautiful book.
Still much more than I expected”.

“This renewed attention to what us makes human beings, I see as the hope for the 21st century. We have to regain our identity and dignity from the influence of commercialism and the fast media.
By among others honest acting and statements.”

“I received the book. Very beautiful. I am very impressed.”

But also other responses came in to do with the specific marketing strategy behind the distribution of the photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.
Anyone can go to the website of the project and request a free copy.
Only a small fee needs to be paid for shipping and handling.
But there is also a “DeLuxe Edition” available.
This a person buys and with the proceeds the free copies are financed.
A democratic system for a non-profit project appealing to our solidarity and compassion.

Several people appreciate this way of making a book worldwide available, so that even if you are in a situation of economic hardship, a copy is available thanks to the generosity of more well to do friends.

Therefore, several people ordered more than one copy of the “DeLuxe Edition”.
To give the beautiful book that is signed and in a luxury box with a high quality original print as a present to family and friends.
And to make more free copies possible to lower income people .

One person even decided to make a donation to the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
And a wonderful girl wrote she could not afford the “DeLuxe Edition” but would pay the shipping and handling costs for one book twice.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In case you haven't got a copy yet, go to:

http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org

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This bird had a mother too

2010-11-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

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The wind blowing towards insanity

2010-11-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

There was a storm in the north.
California, USA, was hit by bad weather.
Being 1.500 kilometers to the south of this meteorological event, which is 932 miles, it could be noticed.
Normally this time of year the wind at El Triple blows between 10 to 15 kilometers per hour.
That is 6 to 9 miles per hour.
But yesterday, because of the Californian storm, it howled at over 30 kilometers per hour.
That is 18 miles per hour.

The Fuso Szulc is, when in one place for a long time, supported by stabilizing trailer jacks.
This to avoid when winds are strong that the vehicle shakes like a cocktail mixer.
But when winds are over 30 kilometers per hour the Fuso Szulc vibrates on its jacks as if it is nervous or having mini orgasms.

The wind speeds in those conditions is watched carefully using the Davis Vantage Vue weather centre.
Because if winds would reach a speed of about 40 kilometers an hour, 25 miles an hour, the Datastorm Satellite Disk needs to be lowered and put in the storage position.

When at El Triple, Mexico, during these strong winds, memories return of the time when living in Cadaques, Spain.
In that village they have sometimes a strong wind that is called the Tramontana.
It comes from the nearby Pyrenees mountains and it can blow from a few hours to several days.
It is a merciless wind: very strong and in Winter bitterly cold.

When the Tramontana blows the inhabitants of Cadaques are influenced by the effects this wind has.
It makes people, when the Tramontana blows for days, irritated, annoyed, bad mooded and alcoholic.
This constant noise that sounds like being in a ghost house, the cold, the pulling at clothes when outside, the discomfort, the aggression and the violence the wind forces to feel.
Those are the days couples fight and separate.
And it is the time that many people get drunk.

If in Cadaques, Spain, people become crazy and get out of control because of a strong wind, it must be a worldwide phenomenon.
And therefore probably in El Triple, Mexico as well.
But being in solitude it is hard to determine when exactly the level of insanity is reached.
Yesterday, it was noticed the mood was not near getting a gold medal.
It was more on the level of a rusted copper junk thing.
That was due to the wind because it was not just very uncomfortable at El Triple.
For example, to sit in the sunshine to read quietly and peaceful another chapter in the marvelous book “Middlemarch” by George Eliot was impossible.
Too cold, too violent, too aggressive, too unpleasant.
And nowhere to go to be out of the wind: it was everywhere except inside the Fuso Szulc.
But that was vibrating on its jacks imposing impossible and therefore unpleasant fantasies.

It was imagined what would happen if in that situation a skilled and experienced psychiatrist would visit to do a mental health check.
Maybe her diagnosis would be: where are the men in white coats? Take him away now!!

The wind has calmed down.
11 kilometers per hour.
That is 6 miles per hour.
No more vibrations of the Fuso Szulc and in the mental health.

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A tremendous victory

2010-11-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

It was again like so many years ago.
Dumped in a boarding school to have to live and study there.
Basically locked up and forced into a strict daily discipline.
Having to lose identity and the only option offered to become a number in a large group.

The dream was principally not about being in boarding school again.
Although the buildings were there and the other students.
Even the white tunics that soon would be handed out and everyone was obliged to wear were present.

The dream was about one thing only: the strong feeling how to mastermind and execute the escape from this situation.

This was expressed to some fellows that looked sympathetic.
And one said that to run away was no problem.
He pointed to a nearby highway with a ramp from where it was no problem to hitchhike away.

But in the dream it continued to circle around the question how to get out of the situation without making a decision to actually do it.

These nights very clear and revealing dreams manifest themselves.
Open to interpretations to become educational and leading to better insight.

The current situation is in a way rather similar to the days of having been in boarding school.
Away from society, away from family and friends, away from the entertaining aspects of town.
And most importantly, a life ruled by discipline.
A strict schedule of what has to happen at what time.

So the dream suggests there is a straight line from the days spent in the boarding school to living at El Triple.
Suggesting that these El Triple-retreats are not more than an expression of a trauma never worked out properly.

Is that true?
Has there never been an escape from the boarding school?

At the time, to live and study in the boarding school was deeply hated.
The strict discipline, the intimidation, the violence, the physical abuse, the group culture, the smells, the absence of privacy, etc.
It was against all that was the core of the self.
But at the age of 14, there was not enough strength yet to decide to hitchhike away from the dreaded situation.
Where to go?
It was the parents that had decided that boarding school was what to have for the son so returning home was not an option.

Another strategy to get out was developed: to become very impossible and unmanageable for the responsible persons.
So that it would all become too much for them.
And indeed, after two years they requested to leave.
A decision that stalemated the parents.
This was felt like a tremendous victory.
Like a liberation and a return to the own life.

Rationally thinking back to those days, it can now be appreciated that a 14 year old boy managed to escape in that way from the situation that was experienced as horrible and destructive.

Having managed to escape from boarding school gives a feeling of pride.
A most positive feeling that drowns the negative memories of the boarding school days.
And allows to apply the undeniable positive things also experienced and learned during those two years.
Like living in retreat at El Triple with discipline.

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The exploding spider

2010-11-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

In 2000 director Robert Zemeckis made a film called Cast Away with Tom Hanks.
It is the story of a FEDEX plane that crashes but Tom Hanks survives and ends up on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific.
We see how Hanks tries to physically survive and how he psychologically deals with his solitude and rather desperate situation.
One way Hanks applies to avoid becoming insane is to have an imaginary companion.
This is his friend “Wilson” with who he discusses his perilous situation.
However, “Wilson” is not a person.
It is a “Wilson Sporting Goods” volleyball from one of the FEDEX packages that has washed ashore after the plane crashed.
Hanks has painted a face on the volleyball and makes it his avatar friend.

One could claim that the current situation in which the Fuso Szulc finds itself in is in many ways similar to Tom Hanks on his South Pacific island.
One aspect is similar for sure: here it is also out of society.
Away from the hustle and bustle.
No other people in the life for a while.

Then one evening, it getting dark, a spider was noticed making its web in the door opening.
That is a smart spider was the thought, because when completely dark, a light would be switched on inside the Fuso Szulc attracting flying insects coming to the door opening ending in the web of the spider.

The next evening the spider was seen again making his web and getting ready for his night snacks.
Until it was understood that the spider was living there.
A companion!
As of then, every late evening, the spider is watched how he makes his web.
And it is observed that he is doing well.
Mr. Spider is growing fat as a result of his smart strategy.

This brings back memories from the 70’s.
At the time life then was with a woman from the Netherlands and her son.
Living in a very large house where even was a space to play table tennis.
There was a dog too and dinners with friends and evenings with wood fire and red wine.
Those were happy days for years.
There was of course a bathroom in this house and one evening when brushing the teeth it was noticed a spider was making a web in the window opening.
That time there were also mosquitoes entering the bathroom attracted by the moisture.
The idea came up to catch mosquitoes and plant them in the web of the spider.
This was done and when the mosquito was put into the web, the spider would come running and eat the free food.
This was repeated every night: the spider getting a couple of mosquitoes for supper besides what he was catching himself later.
The spider was gaining weight and growing fat because of this five star restaurant life and that was not seen as an alarming condition.
Until one night the spider, who had become like a pet, was found dead with his main body burst open.
Obviously the spider had been overeating.
Swallowing anything in his web not knowing when enough is enough.
No! His motto was: more, anything, always.
Ending in a bulimia suicide.

It was not a happy moment to find the exploded spider.
Some feeling of guilt came up because there had been an interference in the animal kingdom.
And when humans do this, often it goes wrong with the animals.

So now, the new spider in the life, is seen being successful and growing more and more fat and concerns are arising for his health.
Should he be gently moved to another location maybe?
Friend Wilson made into a volleyball again?

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other ways of waterboarding

2010-11-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

It is hard to understand why the American interrogators ever used this torturing system of waterboarding.
The victims would say anything they believed the interrogators wanted to hear.
Desperate as they had been made to feel.

While there is a way to have anybody confess the truth easily and peacefully.
Just make somebody listen to the music of Kitaro.

Kitaro is a Japanese musician who uses the synthesizer.

He lives in Sebastopol, California, USA on a 180 acre (730,000 m²) estate and composes in his 2500 square foot (230 m²) home studio he calls the "Mochi House" (it is large enough to hold a 70 piece orchestra).
Frequently he brings out CD’s with his music and these sounds he produces drives any sane person to a state of total desperation.
Through XM radio channel 72 called “Spa” sometimes they play music from Kitaro and that is always the right time to get out of the Fuso Szulc and check the sound of the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

At El Triple these days there are more sounds to hear that are unusual and possibly annoying.
On the dirt roads not very far from the location where the Fuso Szulc is parked, the Baja 1000 rally is taking place.
This Baja 1000 rally is a huge event and monstrous cars participate making a tremendous noise.
That carries for miles and reaches the peaceful and harmonious El Triple location.
It is a 20 minutes walk to the dirt road where the racing cars, motorbikes and ATV’s pass by and the option is to go and see how they hurry by.
But there is no interest at all to see the race: the sound of the Pacific Ocean is preferred.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To learn more about Kitaro:
http://www.domo.com/kitaro/index.php

To learn more about the Baja 1000 Rally:
http://bajasafari.blogspot.com/2009/10/baja-1000-2010-to-finish-in-cabo-to.html

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Alone while with thousands

2010-11-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

It is a very weird situation to have the project “The most beautiful people in the world” explode in success while in retreat.

On the one hand reality is the deserted location of El Triple in Mexico far from society and deep into nature.
On the other hand it is the turmoil of a photo project that is successful, popular, in the centre of media attention and therefore in the minds and hearts of thousands and thousands of people.
The contrast to be alone while with thousands.

It is the result of being far from society by driving the Fuso Szulc to its current particular location but because of remaining in touch through the solar powered satellite Internet connection society remains dominantly present in a virtual way.

This is weird to experience but great as well.
It is like having a birthday party with family and friends but being far away from where it takes place.

These days it is very difficult to work as an artist and have with the results of the art work world wide media attention.
In general, life has become high speed and much more superficial.
What fits these days in the context of the media must be so specific, that very few artists manage to escape from obscurity.
The challenge for a contemporary artist is to remain 100 % close to oneself and come up nevertheless with a result that fits in the current media context.

This has happened with the project “The most beautiful people in the world” but it must be said it was never imagined it would grow into these proportions of current media attention.
Of course the dream was manifesting itself frequently as an artist-photographer to make at least once in the career a smash hit.
A work that would find access to the world stage.
This has happened with the sequences and now again with a photo project.

It is an excellent feeling to see this happen.
But like it was with the sequences, the success is not causing to lean back and bulemia-like swallow the self-satisfaction.
Everything that is now happening around the project “The most beautiful people in the world” is seen as the construction of a new platform from where the next project can be build and launched to reach even more people.

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In the heart, that is.

2010-11-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

It is not accepted that the time becomes hectic.
But these days every hour is filled with activities.
All related to the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
This is because the photo book was recently published and is now being distributed.
And gratefully the press is jumping on the situation.

Yesterday was an interview for a very popular program on National Dutch Radio together with the designer of the book, Mr. Teun van der Heijden.
And today the program “Outlook” of the BBC Worldservice is dedicated to the project “The most beautiful people in the world” with the background story, interviews with participants in China and France, as well as with the pioneering photographer.

This is seen as part of being a photographer who has a mission.
The project “The most beautiful people in the world” is about promoting empathy among the people.
To suggest that a choice can be made in life that betters the personal and communal social environment.
A choice for optimism, positivism and bliss.
To chose to be beautiful.
In the heart, that is.

It is no trouble at all to explain this message in an interview.
In the career many interviews have been experienced and the result is that there is not a feeling anymore of intimidation.
The knowledge that thousands and thousands of people are watching and listening does not make nervous or insecure.

An interview is seen as part of the job.
A professional activity.
It is nothing personal.
Not even the journalist who is mainly the person helping to transmit and promote the message.

Therefore the focus can be very much on how to give the interview.
Because an interview for radio or TV, it goes very, very fast.
Somehow the attention span of the viewer and listener is considered to be very short.
Hence, 10 minutes is seen as a very long time on radio and TV.
The reality is that in total maybe 10 questions are asked and each question can be replied to with max 3 sentences.
It is therefore vital to have very clear, very short but very impressive answers ready.
This is studied beforehand and even written down on a paper put in front during the interview.

A good strategy is also to have on another paper the essential points that want to be made.
Because what the journalist wants to know is not always to the benefit of the message and the project.
The main line is to get people interested in the concept of the project and to make them so curious that they go to the website http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org.
To see the pictures, read the texts and to order the beautiful photo book.

The interview on Dutch radio yesterday can be heard on:

http://www.radio1.nl/podcasts/31-met-het-oog-op-morgen/feed_items/436783

The interview on “Outlook” of the BBC Worldservice on:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2010/11/101117_outlook_true_beauty_photos.shtml

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The fish that killed himself

2010-11-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

It all depends what point of view one takes.
And one very convincing one is that we make a lot of trouble.
Worldwide we see wars take place, murders and killings.
If not carefully controlling indignation one would tend to think we live in a jungle and should be prepared for the worst constantly.

Actually, this is how most animals live.
We at least try to strive for peace and harmony.
We have the Ten Commandments and the Sutras and the Koran Verses and priests, the law and the police.
Most people live not doing anyone harm.

But not so with those other living creatures with who we share the planet.
The animals have organized a community for themselves where the rule is that if you don’t kill and eat, you will be killed and eaten.
Except for the pandas.
Most other live in constant fear.
They depend on defense abilities they have developed during their evolution.
Nevertheless, the chance they will enjoy a relaxed old day are minimal.
As soon as they are not in top physical condition anymore the crocodile or the owl will be able to catch and eat them.

It is a horrible world and be aware that animals are afraid of us not for who we are.
They are afraid of any living thing because they know they are hunted to be eaten.
Animals live in a tremendous fear and stress.
Nervous and tense, fearing for life from morning till the next morning.

Besides fear, many animals are vicious too.
Especially fish.
They have a voracity that even humans don’t have.
They eat as much as they can and then even more.

In the days of fishing it has happened frequently that a fish was caught who still had in the throat a small fish it had caught seconds before.

And yesterday the oyster diver friends came by who had found on the beach minutes before a large fish that had killed itself by overeating.
It was a fish called a white seabass who had caught a smaller one called a pompano.

The pompano was too big to eat but the seabass was too vicious and voracious and tried anyway.
The pompano got stuck in his mouth: couldn’t get it in and couldn’t get it out anymore.
To die and wash on the beach.

Better be human.

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No more nine

2010-11-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

This morning in bed after waking up because of the absence of a partner to have activities with the entertainment and satisfaction was found in contemplating about numerology and mathematics.
This is how deep or how high a man can sink or rise, depending how it is looked at.

Therefore, no wonder the focus during the contemplation was on the number 9.
The number that represents the powerless condition a man can find himself in.
If the vitality is made right and bright, we use of course the number 6.

Therefore, the conclusion came up that if possible, we should eliminate the number 9 completely.
Like it is a strict taboo to use it.

This may sound like a far fetched and weird concept.
To have all the numbers between 1 and 10 except the number 9.
But excuse us, this is not silly or impossible at all.

To have it become effective, we must approach numbers as a religion.
Because there they do these things.

Like in the Jewish faith it is not allowed to use the word God.
Therefore they write JHWH that is pronounced Yahweh.
It is an agreement between people similar to deciding to all together not use the number 9 anymore.

There is also something similar in the Islam.
There it is not allowed to make a drawing or painting or sculpture that represents what God created.
So you never find in a traditional mosque an image of Mohammed the Prophet.
Artists could only express themselves in abstract patterns.
Result of a common agreement.
It is all that simple!

When we think about it more deeply, we come to the conclusion that if the Jewish faith and the Islam can exclude things, why not a horrible and depressing number, the 9, as well?
Think about it, why do we need number 9 actually?
If, for example, you make $ 900 a week, we will need to change that to $ 888.
You see, what is the problem?
And if your wife expects her 9th child, of course it has to be made available for adoption.
Besides all this, you have any problem closing all 99 Cents stores then?
It is all a piece of cake.

Now, some smart fellow in the back of the lecture hall raises his hand, that fortunately has 5 fingers, not 9, and claims that in mathematics we can’t do without the number 9.
That is a good point.
Because we can’t adapt a system like they have in the Jewish faith.
There, everybody knows Jahweh means God.
So when somebody says: “Jahweh”, the listener knows the person means in fact “God”.
In numbers we cannot go for that approach.
Like making a worldwide agreement through the United Nations that as of now the number 9 will be replaced by the number 3.
So that if somebody says to deliver 3 cars, in fact your driveway will be blocked by 9 cars.
And if you need 3 cars, how to avoid having to pay for 9?
That won’t work.
But fortunately there is a solution.
We can represent 9 with the concept 10-1.
In a calculation it will look like this:
10-1 x 3 = 27
Why do we need 9?

Even in daily life.
You can’t say anymore you have 9 friends.
So simply say you have 8 friends or 10, what is the difference?

Time to get out of bed.
This is all becoming too ridiculous.
Better have a partner to play with next time.

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Most $ 1.25 but he $ 55.000 per day

2010-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Eighth days in retreat when a visitor arrives.
In a battered Ford Bronco with California license plates.
This is friend Mike who is from Canada but lives in La Paz in Mexico.
He is one of the few persons that know how to find the Fuso Szulc.
And he likes to pass by sometimes to have a chat overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Then Mike tells beautiful stories from a world totally unknown at El Triple.
Like how a yacht arrived at the opening of the bay of La Paz.
Too big to enter with its 127 meter length ( 416 ft).
Belonging to one of the top guys of Microsoft, a guy called Paul Allen who is worth $ 20 billion.
This extraordinary yacht, the "Octopus", build in Germany at a price of $ 200 million, has a crew of 60 persons.
And has for example a door in the back that opens so the submarine it holds can come out and dive.
A submarine that can take 8 people and stay under water for two weeks.
Besides the submarine there are two helicopters, seven boats and a remote controlled vehicle for crawling on the ocean floor.
This boat doesn’t anchor: it has in different places propellors and a GPS system so it can be kept in one place wherever it is.

This yacht takes 849.446 liters of fuel to supply the 8 Mercedes Benz diesel engines of 2.400 HP each.

Friend Mike was invited to come on board this bombastic and exaggerated boat and he reported that he couldn’t even hear the engines nor feel any movement because of the computer controlled stabilizers.

He talked to the captain and asked some very good questions.
Like what was the purpose of the thing.
Costing $ 20 million per year to operate the question is justified what this boat is all about.
The reply was that the boat is about nothing.
They just cruise worldwide looking for exceptional things on the sea.
Like now they were checking if they could find some giant squids.
Once they will locate them, they call the owner of this extravagant boat, Paul Allen, to inform him.
He comes down then in his private plane, gets on his boat by helicopter, checks out the giant squids and travels back to Microsoft in the USA.
Obviously Paul Allen does not find one moment of reflection and contemplation.
Wondering how this excessive spending of money harmonizes with the current state of affairs in the world.
According to Wikipedia over 1.7 billion people live in poverty at $ 1.25 per day but Paul Allen spends $ 55.000 per day to have his boat.

A $ 200 million boat with a crew of 60 to find and see giant squids.
Fantastic.
These giant squids are sometimes right here on the beach of El Triple!

Chasing fog in London

2010-11-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

These days is an exhibition of the photo project “Camden Interiors” in the Swiss Cottage Gallery in London, UK.

Now, a newspaper called “The Hampstead and Highgate Express” has published a story on the photo project “Camden Interiors” written by talented journalist Lucia Psenakova.

As an extra service to the fervent and loyal blog readers this story is published on this blog today.

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Camden Interiors will take you back 38 years

Back in the 60s when Michel Szulc-Krzyzanowski was a student highly fascinated by photography, he promised himself to never work for anybody else. He started creating his own independent pieces of photography soon after graduating in 1970.
It was only two years later when he received an interesting invitation from Camden Arts Centre to take part in the project called ´Photography into Art´. This was his chance to work towards changing the unflattering status of photography into an independent form of art. Until then photography was thought to be an applied art form and wasn´t taken very seriously, but Michel´s work from 1972 made a clear statement and put photographs into the same category as paintings and sculptures.
Soon after coming to London, the work on three different projects commenced. One of the projects named “Camden Interiors” featured the photographs of people living in Camden as well as the captions of their own self made creation, in this case - the living room.
Michel reflects: “The photo project ´Camden Interiors´ was a personal idea and proposed to the female Director of the Camden Arts Centre. She wanted, originally, to show work that was already made - sequences on the beaches of an island in the Netherlands. But it was unacceptable to function as an artist photographer like all the other artists at the time - to make art and show it later in a museum.“
Michel felt that museums were like “an ivory tower” and that it shouldn´t be that way, so his instant urge was to create the exhibition that would involve people and something that they created on their own.
“There was this strong need to want to connect as many people as possible to the museum,“ he says. Michel was convinced that people would be curious and want to see how their neighbours live.

After being faced with rejection, Michel and his assistant found 50 people willing to be photographed in their living rooms. Pictures that clearly reflect people´s style, background and financial situation, were mostly taken in front of the TV sets – since, according to the artist, TV was becoming a dominant factor in their lives.
When asked whether he can recall any memories from the 1972 project, he says: “Hardly anything is remembered from trying to find 50 locations of which the occupants agreed to have a picture taken. The job was done together with a young woman and it was very nice to work with her. But in the memory not one visit to any of the living rooms is remembered. Hey, it was 38 years ago.“
Now ´Camden Interiors´ from 1972 is back to make an impact on a new generation of audience. Swiss Cottage Gallery presents the exhibition, with 35 photographs of living rooms and their residents in Camden.
The public can see the displays of photographs any day from 22 October to 19 December 2010 and this time around, the exhibition doesn´t only play on our social curiosity, but also carries a deep historical message.
Looking at Michel´s work from a perspective of a today´s Londoner, his work ´Camden Interiors´ brings a unique insight into people´s lives 38 years ago.
Even though Michel went on to create other highly acclaimed pieces of photography, his humbleness as an artist is obvious. When complimented on his work, he politely answers: “I appreciate it tremendously when people are gripped by my work.”

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When in London between October 22 and December 19, 2010, go and see this exhibition of the “Camden Interiors” in the Swiss Cottage Gallery on 88 Avenue Road.

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the fatal fantasy failed.

2010-11-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Two days ago there was the usual daily running.
This time not on the long beach but on the land.
Due to a strong northwestern wind.
The track on the land that makes a circle through the desert among bushes and cactuses and rocks and dust for about 50 minutes.

It is an exhausting and challenging run because the road goes up and down, is uneven and full of rocks.
And occasionally a big snake may be resting on the track.

But two days ago there was an additional experience running on that road.
Out of nothing a very, very strong feeling was experienced that somebody ahead was standing there.
Waiting to meet the runner.
And this person waiting was wearing a long black cloth with a cape.
With in his hand a scythe.
Immediately it was realized this was Mr. Death himself.

Of course many times in books this phenomenon of Death as a man in a long black dress and wide cape with a scythe in one hand was read being described.
And it has been seen as an image often.
But it was always believed that this image of Death was the result of human fantasy.
How man imagines how Death manifests itself when the moment has come.
A caricature.
A childish and naive representation of something or someone we can’t know anything about.

But then we don’t really know.
When the moment has come to die, why not could it be that a creature with a scythe in the hand comes to guide us to forever?
And while running and experiencing and feeling so incredibly strongly that in front Mr. Death was waiting, the thought grounded that maybe this is actually as it is.
When we die a creature in a wide black coat with a cape hiding the face and a scythe in the hand comes to meet us.

This is a frightening thought, fervent and loyal blog readers.
Becoming convinced that Mr. Death actually exists and is the one to meet as the last experience before to die.
And that in less than a minute he will be met because he is waiting there.

This conviction, how ridiculous and preposterous as it was, nevertheless was extra firm and royally reigning.
It was deeply believed the last steps in life were being made.
That in the days to come some Mexican visiting the area to dive for oysters would find the corpse of the athlete already partly consumed by coyotes.
A European man died of a heart attack while running.

And actually this is not an unlikely scenario.
In the family two generations ago heart attacks were common.
This because of genetic high levels of cholesterol.
Nowadays several members of the family have also this issue but live longer by taking medication, artificially lowering the too high level of cholesterol.
The pioneering photographer has been diagnosed having this family characteristic as well and doctors insisted to take daily cholesterol lowering medication.
This has been refused.
Never in the life the body was bothered with medication having the philosophy that when it is time to go, it is time to go.
But that meanwhile it is wise to have a very well balanced diet and regime of physical exercise plus being mentally balanced and in harmony as a strategy to stay alive.
This works well until now and the body is thankfull for not having to digest chemical substances with severe side effects.

But more and more it is becoming likely that Mr. Death might be met.
It can’t take more time than life has been enrolling itself already.

And there on this rough road running it was strongly felt he was there.
Total conviction the moment had come.
Goodbye life.

But then the book of Carlos Castaneda “A separate reality” was remembered in which a Mexican Indian Shaman called Don Juan explains that life must be lived as a warrior.
That one has to fight for independence, balance, harmony and enlightenment.
Not fighting as we humans do each other with weapons and napalm and waterboarding.
But in this context it is fighting in a spiritual way.
To remain in the own tracks and grounded in the own karma and to not being fished out of the stream of the own life.
By making choices out of total conviction.
From the heart and the soul synchronistic with life and the universe.

And remembering Don Juan and his wise lessons it was realized that Mr. Death was indeed there in front waiting to take the runner out of life.
But that still being alive a choice could be made.
The choice to deliver oneself to Mr. Death and go with him as a lamb to the altar.
Or to chose to stay alive and be stronger than Mr. Death.
To not allow even Mr. Death permission to terminate a process of growing.
Because it is far from finished.

The choice was instantly made without hesitation.
And the fatal fantasy failed.

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Be one of one million

2010-11-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

Today, on November 11, 2010, one million people across the globe will mentally project a unified vision of a new paradigm for our species... a new reality.

The very real physics that connects human consciousness with molecular structure will be harnessed en masse during the largest scale simultaneous manifestation transmission in recorded history.

Learn details on:

http://www.newrealitytransmission.com/

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Fighting from a Canadian point of view

2010-11-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday it was a great day for this blog and its many fervent and loyal readers when we all enjoyed so much pictures of an evening of Lucha Libre in Mexico.
Folkloristic wrestlers beating each other up, but symbolically only.
To the great delight of the audience and especially the kids went wild.
They wanted signatures of every fighter performing.
And then the wrestler who had been the mean and bad one, turned out to be the nicest guy on earth awarding every child with a beautiful signature.

But that evening in La Paz, Mexico, there was also another photographer.
A sympathetic colleague from Canada by the name of Daniel Gautreau.
Of course he made pictures too with a sophisticated Leica camera.
And here are some of his images:

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If you would like to learn more about the photographer Daniel Gautreau, go to his website on
www.vimeo.com/danieltv

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Folkloristic Fighting in Mexico

2010-11-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

A party soon.

2010-11-08T06:58:00.000-08:00

At El Triple in Mexico a phenomenal event today.
Which in fact happened all around the world at this latitude for those that noticed.
The sun went down last night at 6.40 pm and this morning rose at 6.40 am.
Giving us here exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night.

That is today’s headline.
Now for other news:

Mexico is one of the countries that is in the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.
At the time, posters were put in the streets of the small town of Ciudad Constitucion.

Asking people to come to the house where Alma was living to report themselves when they believed they were the most beautiful in the world.
Alma is a long time friend who got deeply and enthusiastically involved in the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.

Also this way of finding the most beautiful people worked very well.
A large group of people announced themselves and they were all visited in their homes and documented.

Now the idea has been born to organize a new event in Ciudad Constitucion where everybody that was involved in Mexico in the project “The most beautiful people in the world” is invited.
The participants will be offered a book and there will be food and drinks.

What is so great in Mexico is that people know how to be enthusiastic and work together.
When Alma heard about the idea, she immediately went for it.
Having a concept right away how this event could be organized.
Who to involve and where to have it take place.

This makes being involved in the project “The most beautiful people in the world” in different countries in the world so fascinating.
Each country has specific attitudes and traditions and these decide in fact what is allowed to happen and how.

For example, a lot of effort has been invested in doing this project in Japan and the Netherlands.
And although people were found that were very interested, to actually do and perform the project turned out to be made impossible.
For different reasons but a central issue was the fact that before anything money was put first.

However, in other countries, it went by itself driven by the enthusiasm and dynamic nature of the people involved.
Not only in Mexico, but in the United States, Poland and China also.
How they loved to improvise and enjoy being involved making themselves the most beautiful persons in the world.

Early February is the event in Ciudad Constitucion and already excitement is intense to meet again all the Mexican participants and share an accomplished project.

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Finally: a great picture

2010-11-07T06:42:00.001-08:00

For quite some time not many pictures are taken anymore.
Although on many occasions and in many situations a camera is carried, it is not often being used.
The main reason for this policy is that there is no conviction anymore that it makes sense to make pictures.
Because immediately the question arises: why?
And because no adequate and convincing answer comes to this question it is experienced as a senseless matter to shoot images here and there.

In the past, this was a completely different matter.
Anywhere and anytime pictures were made.
Of anybody and any situation wherever and whenever.
But in those days it was easy to find platforms to present those images to an audience.
And to even turn them into a way of making money.
This situation has drastically changed.

These days books, features in newspapers and magazines, and exhibitions all always have a theme.
A particular subject.
Never anymore a group of pictures of a photographer is published or shown that are made at random.

In the past another way of marketing images was through the stock agencies, the companies that sell from an image bank to magazines and newspapers.
Pictures how people were living, what they were doing, how they had been building: any image could be added to the image bank and very likely one day they were published and paid for.
But many of the stock agencies have gone out of business over the last couple of years.
And the ones that are still selling do this in a minimal way for extreme low prices.

A whole other issue is that in the past it was personally very well known what to decide was a great picture.
But over the last couple of years what curators decide to show in their museums and galleries and photo festivals, and picture editors in their magazines and newspapers, there is no understanding why those images are selected to be presented.
Often it is seen as either lacking quality or it is simply not understood why a specific group of images has been chosen to be displayed or published.
It is clear that many curators and picture editors now in charge have a way of looking at pictures that is completely alien and not understood.
And therefore why make many pictures when they would not find curators and picture editors drinking such a cup of tea?

Nevertheless, just for fun, pictures are made like this one in La Paz.

It is considered a great picture.
That’s why it deserves to be published on this blog.
Then, why is this a good image?
Don’t know.
It just feels like it is.

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Elsewhere where?

2010-11-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

But elsewhere in Mexico on Friday, the arrest of two men believed to be part of the La Familia cartel in the Mexican state of Michoacan sparked violent clashes in the region, including the blockade of several roads with vehicles set on fire, Notimex reported.
A string of shootings and other violent attacks were believed to be an attempt to rescue them from police custody, Notimex said.
A number of passenger buses were riddled with bullets and set on fire, and two gasoline tankers were also set ablaze using molotov cocktails. A few homes and a convenience store were also targets of the attacks, according to Notimex.

Reported CNN today.

But elsewhere in Mexico, and that was for most of the territory of this country, everything was quiet and without unusual problems.

Reports the pioneering photographer.

Especially in La Paz where it was peaceful and happy.
Although no shop had running shoes size 13….

Now it is a return to a second retreat at El Triple.

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Hit hard but hot again

2010-11-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

The six Trojan T 105s batteries have been replaced.

Costs: Mexican Pesos 12.819,30 = € 744 = $ 1050

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Getting out, coming in

2010-11-04T09:29:00.001-07:00

Day 28 of the retreat.
Still enough supplies for more days of a simple life at El Triple.

But the battery bank has now completely given up.
The voltage is now so low that machinery working on electricity is powerless.
That involves the water pump, the computer and most importantly, the internet system.

There is nothing else to do as to limp back to town.

Time now to break down camp, pack everything and head for help.

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within you without you

2010-11-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

And then suddenly, while cooking the evening meal, a car came by.
Two good friends from La Paz visiting.
Bringing fresh sushi from town and a bottle of Shiraz from Australia.

In La Paz, they reported, the local business men had organized an event.
To make in the center of town the largest burrito in the world.
For this extravagant event all schools were closed for two days.

An opportunity for the friends to get out of the warm and noisy and dusty and polluted town and find some harmony and peace at El Triple.

Hence, from one moment to the next, life changed from being in solitude into being with friends.
Listening and talking and sharing and laughing.
Because for over 25 days nobody has been visiting and on not too many occasions conversations happened through Skype, the muscles in the throat that are used to talk had been going out of shape.
Therefore, talking became a painful activity.
Even losing the voice.

A most interesting observation was made that reality when in solitude is very different from the reality that is created when with a group of people.

Some people prefer to always be in a kind of solitude to pamper themselves with this status.
On the other hand, there are people who detest solitude and absolutely need to always be surrounded by others.
And then there are the people who take the best of both worlds.
To alternate periods of solitude with periods of having company.

With that approach life is always within you and without you:

We were talking-about the space between us all
And the people-who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth-then it's far too late-when they pass away.
We were talking-about the love we all could share-when we find it
To try our best to hold it there-with our love
With our love-we could save the world-if they only knew.
Try to realize it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows on within you and without you.
We were talking-about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul-
They don't know-they can't see-are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself-then you may find, peace of mind,
Is waiting there-
And the time will come when you see
we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

The Beatles.

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Congratulations for being in love

2010-11-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

Who is responsible that I have no more appetite?
Who disturbs my peace?
Why am I doing everything wrong?
Who makes me warm and then cold?

That is because of Peter.
He is my ideal.
Wearing a gray sweater and a red shawl
He has blue eyes and dark hair
and he is tall and handsome and 18 years old.

Peter believes girls are stupid.
He doesn’t care for them.
That’s how is Peter.

Peter, can’t you see
that I am sick of sadness
Peter, I am in love with you.

Peter is in the highest grade of our school
I wish I was there too
But when he sometimes looked at me
I was totally confused

Many fervent and loyal blog readers may wonder what this is all about.
Who is this Peter and who is talking about him here?

What you have just read is the translated text of a popular song in the Netherlands in the 1970’s.
It was sung by a choir of young girls and played often on the radio in the days there was no MTV yet.
Yesterday, for some unknown reason, this “Peter” song was playing in the head during the post siesta beach walk.
Somehow the brain cells where this song is stored became activated.

And over there in the brains were more memories connected to the “Peter”-song.
Like the memory that at the time of the success of the “Peter”-song, in the 1970’s, the oldest sister had reached her dating age.
And unfortunately for her, she had fallen love with a boy who also happened to have the name “Peter”.
When her two brothers and younger sister discovered her emotional involvement with this Peter, she was mercilessly teased.

And that does questions rise when fast forwarded to today.
Why did the brothers and sister of a young girl in love for the first time have to tease her so cruelly?
Why couldn’t they have told her that it was something marvelous, that they were all very happy for her and were wishing her the very best?
This is so puzzling now, in 2010, that being in love, as was the older sister in 1970, was seen as something to tease the person about.

There are no children in the slipstream of the pioneering photographer and it is during these kinds of reflections that they are dearly missed.
Because as a parent the children would have been inspired to see being in love as a fabulous event in life.
Something to celebrate, respect and enjoy.
Instead of teasing the person for being in love, gifts would be given and a party thrown.

The older sister so in love with Peter but teased to death married another guy.
Whose name was Paul.

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The small dog that believes it is big

2010-11-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

There is this friend in La Paz who is a cattle dealer.
He buys from ranches in the southern part of Baja California their cows.
Brings them to his own ranch near the town of La Paz.
There the cows get the best time in their lives.
No more roaming in the mountains looking for the meagre food that can be found there and needing to walk all the way back to the water hole.
No, at the ranch of the friend in La Paz, they are all cozy together in a large corral with plenty of food and fresh water available day and night.
In a short while they grow fat and content.
But then when the price of meat is high, the cows are sold to the slaughter house and soon they are juicy steaks on the tables.

When meeting the friend, the cattle dealer from La Paz, he shakes hands in a way that immediately concern is raised for the well being of the own hand.
He squeezes it as if every bone needs to be crushed.
It is that kind of guy: a fantastic aura and strong presence.
He owns the world.
He is good looking, well off, simpatico and clever.

But his marriage failed.
You can’t have it all, dear fervent and loyal blog readers.
His wife and the two kids moved out and they live now in a house somewhere else in La Paz.
The friend is these days by himself in the house where he used to have family company.

This is devastating for him.
His aura is not so brilliant anymore.
Doesn’t shave every morning as he used to do and his mood is down too.

But he came up with a solution for his misery.
A remarkable initiative to anesthetize his loneliness and feelings of failure.
He got himself a chihuahua.
This is a small dog.
Mexican breed.
An affectionate canin.
But very vicious when necessary.

It is the kind of dog that doesn’t realize it is small and slightly ridiculous but probably very able to imagine it has Rottweiler capacities in case of danger.
How they can bark!
And make these moves like attacking sending the intruder to hospital.

Somehow, this chihuahua alleviates the life of the friend.
But it looks weird though to see this big and strong man sit on the sofa in his empty living room with in his lap the small dog.
Finding a grip on life again thanks to this sausage doggie.

On a recent visit the metal gate was knocked on of the house the friend lives in.
To wake him up because now he sleeps a lot.
Immediately the chihuahua came running to the fence barking like mad suggesting that no one was going to step on the property to stay alive.

The friend woke up, controlled the dog and we sat down in the living room.
The chihuahua had calmed down and could handle emotionally better two guys quietly sitting and talking.
He even got a little curious to learn who was the visitor.
The chihuahua jumped off the friend’s warm lap and nervously moved closer and closer to the visitor.

Now, fervent and loyal blog readers, you know you must talk to dogs, correct?
To explain them things like you are not an intruder with bad intentions.
You say you could even be friends.
And this kind of talking to a dog calms them down and before you know he acts like a purring pussy cat.

It doesn’t matter of course what you tell the dog.
What is important is the tone.
It must be sweet and friendly and soothing and understanding.
Indeed, you can say the most awful things to the dog but if you do it in a beautiful sing song way the dog likes you a lot soon.

Because the friend was there, not only the tone was most friendly communicating with his chihuahua, but the nicest things were said.
“What a beautiful dog you are, Mister chihuahua!”
“Yes, there is a visitor and he likes you already a lot!!”
“Are you going to be the friendly dog you can be?”

The chihuahua was most curious.
Such a friendly person in the house.
And before it was known, he jumped on the lap of the visitor.
The small dog being shy and nervous for the situation he was talked into, OK, but keeping his ground nevertheless.

The friend’s mouth fell open.
He said that this had never happened with his chihuahua before.

How about working in the circus?

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Getting out of decision mode

2010-10-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

What it will cause is not known yet.
Forcing to quit being in retreat at El Triple.
Will it be the lack of drinking water?
Or no more oatmeal for breakfast?
Maybe being fed up with the solitude?

There will be eventually a reason to call it the quits.
For this or for that.

This may not occur soon though.
It is day 24 now of the retreat and most probably a new record of +/- 30 days of non stop retreat might be written in the annals this week.

Meanwhile it is contemplated what to do after going back to town.
New supplies will be purchased.
The six Trojan batteries replaced.
Friends will be met.
But then what?
A return to El Triple for another month of retreat?
Or to go to the Gonzales family on the other side of the Baja California peninsula where life is with other people and in a warmer climate?

In the mind in one place the pro’s and con’s of returning to El Triple are noted.
In another place the pro’s and con’s of going to the Gonzalez family.
Like a book keeping method hoping to come to a conclusion what is the most favorable.

And guess what: this doesn’t work at all.
What is fantastic at El Triple is lacking with the Gonzales family.
And what is fabulous with the Gonzales family is absent at El Triple.
There is no ideal and 100 % perfect location to be.

It is therefore impossible to come to a conclusion: at least now.

Therefore the decision has been made to close those books in the mind that were opened to try to come to a conclusion where to go next.
Instead all mental activity is focused on being in the here and now.
The steps to take in the future will be based on thinking and deciding at the very moment when it becomes relevant.

To free the way and make space to enjoy El Triple as never before.

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Seeing somebody

2010-10-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

When a thing happens in life, it is an event that stands by itself.
That very moment it is experienced unattached from a structure or a pattern where it may come from.

For example, if somebody is nasty to you, as much as you can, you deal effectively with the nastiness coming your way in that moment.
To neutralize it and to avoid becoming a victim of the nastiness.

But later when you are by yourself, you can use your time to reflect.
And when there were more incidents with that person, you will be able to group the remembered events.
To see them then in a context.
In a frame of time and with neutrality.
To maybe come to the conclusion that the person that was nasty, is actually often nasty and therefore is a nasty person.

This Spring three months were spend in Mexico with the Queen of Dreams.
A long time at the very location where life is now: at El Triple.
During that period at El Triple with the Queen of Dreams almost every day something unpleasant happened.
And each incident was so grotesque that all efforts were needed to deal with the problem that was made.
Because of the frequency and the intensity of the complications and confrontations, never was there time to create distance and see things in perspective to come to conclusions.

Now there has been a return to El Triple where this Spring the dramatic events took place.
Because it is peaceful and quiet now, many memories come back of the amazing behavior and attitude of the person that was invited to come.
And now these events that are memorized group themselves and in this way a personality and character becomes clear.
Independent events weave themselves into a recognizable pattern.

When in a mode of retrospection, the person behind all those destructive activities is as in a MRI scanning machine.
A clear picture emerges who that person really is.

This evaluation of a period in life with someone changes the position from, what Carlos Castaneda calls, looking into seeing.
While a dramatic event unfolds, there can only be looking.
In surprise, in awe, in indignation and in amazement.
Too busy to control the situation to do more than simply looking.
But when time and separation create distance and neutrality, one can start seeing.

This is a great step forwards because when having an overall picture of how a person really is, to truly see a person, one can decide what place to give that person in the life.
So that it is happy, productive and in balance again.

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The hampering harmony

2010-10-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

It is a dilemma.
Here at El Triple there is nature with its flora and fauna.
And into this an expedition vehicle drives itself with a human being on board.
That has an impact.
Although limited.

The impact is the least on the flora.
It is hibernating now because the rainy season has not brought any rain at El Triple.
So, nature looks like it is death.
No flowers and no green leaves.
In any case, when walking through nature to the beach, always the same path is walked that twists and turns around the plants.
Not to step on them even when they look death.

But the animals is another story.
In spite of the dryness, they are around.
Even close to the Fuso Szulc.

There are small lizards.
But they are cute and in harmony with the human presence.

And there are coyotes walking by even close to the camp.
Usually at night or early in the morning.
They are shy animals but one coyote during a recent night came inside the camp and rummaged in search for possible food.
There is a strict rule never to leave food outside the Fuso Szulc and for this specific reason.
It would attract animals and bring a confrontation and thus complications closer.
With this policy the coyotes can be heard giving concerts at night but they never make other trouble.

The other representatives of the animal kingdom visiting are the insects.
Because there has been no rainfall here this year, there are not too many insects.
Besides, the daily northwest wind blowing from the Pacific Ocean keeps them away as well.
The stronger the wind the less insects.
The Fuso Szulc has bug screens and a screen door to keep the insects where they belong.
A good idea but at night, when it is dark outside but a light is on inside the Fuso Szulc, somehow certain small insects manage to come inside anyhow.
They stay around the lamp and when not bothered they are peaceful visitors.
But outside, specific insects are vicious and aggressive.
And there are bees that become upset easily.
Small bees that are curious but also hot tempered.
Yesterday one came to pay a visit.
During the preparations for the daily run.
The shirt was waved at the bee to make it go away.
That was too much for the bee.
Unnoticed he landed on the naked arm.
Where he viciously drilled his sting into the skin.
When that was noticed the bee was with a similar viciousness removed of its attack location.
But the bite had been performed and now the arm at that spot has been swollen to tumor like proportions and there is a terrible itching.

And then there are mice.
Followed by desert rats.
They not only look for food but also for a safe and comfortable place to stay.
And are specialists in gnawing anything: cables, wood, hoses and even aluminum.
If possible they make a nest inside RV’s and this has happened on a few occasions.

Hence, it is a good thing if it can be avoided that mice and small rats enter the Fuso Szulc to make havoc.
Like they seem to have done: two lights are not working anymore because probably somewhere in a hidden place in the Fuso Szulc they have been gnawing cables.

Now, what to do ?
There is one effective and beautiful solution to this problem of mice and small rats making the Fuso Szulc their place to stay.
It is to move out of the situation.
To leave the animals in peace and their world for themselves.
The confrontation harmoniously ended.

But this is not accepted as an option.
And that does not make feel full of pride, harmony and peace.
Because by staying, action has to be undertaken.
Like a small war.
The single human versus the multiple mice and small rats and El Triple is the battlefield.
Pretentiously the human is claiming that the mice and small rats have the whole desert to play in but not the small area where the Fuso Szulc is parked.

Obviously this is a proposition hard to understand for the rodents.
A man can talk forever and explain time and again, but they keep on coming and they insist on destroying what basically is a beautiful expedition vehicle.

On board the Fuso Szulc is a bottle with rodent poison.
Mice traps and one rat trap.
These are the weapons used in the battle against the persistent pestering predators.
To basically wipe out the rodent population in the vicinity.

It is a dilemma that has found this status.
A story that unravels anywhere on the planet when humans settle somewhere in nature.

Flora and fauna in combination with human beings.
Total harmony is impossible.

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Life can be happy

2010-10-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

The retreat is now in its 21st day.
And it feels better and better.

It may take even another week before the unique location has to be left due to failing supplies.

But for now: no real problems.
Still 30 liters of drinking water.
Propane tank at 56 %.
Watertank at 54 %.
And still food in fridge and freezer to survive living in a most simple way.

As so often though, there are minor technical problems.
A light used the most often at night has stopped working.
A technical inspection was made and there is no power on the cable.
Hence, somewhere between the light and the fuse board the cable is cut.
All the cables in the Fuso Szulc are behind walls therefore it is still an unmet challenge to discover where exactly the cut has taken place.
This though should be found out because in normal life cables are not cut by themselves.
Someone or something is doing this.
As there is nobody else, it must be mice.
They are known for gnawing cables and hoses of cars and RV’s that are in one place for a longer period of time.

Another technical issue that has come up are the six Trojan batteries.
They are in use for four years now and have reached the end of their life span.
They need to be replaced because they can’t keep properly the 20 amp of electricity the six solar panels on the roof produce at noon.
Therefore, electricity is now being used as little as possible.
Because when the power of the batteries go lower than 9 volt, the Magnum inverter system switches everything off.

Besides these minor issues life is uncomplicated, prosperous and happy.

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an excellent critique

2010-10-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

The last couple of years numerous stories about the project “The most beautiful people in the world” have been published.
On the internet, in newspapers and magazines.

Many journalists were excited and enlightened by the project “The most beautiful people in the world” and wrote wonderful things about it.

Often though journalists are under stress.
They are in a hurry and have deadlines.
Of course every story published about the project “The most beautiful people in the world” is warmly welcomed.
But there are good stories and less good stories.

Until yesterday.
When an excellent critique was published about the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
By a Canadian woman called Dawn Pier who is a writer and an environmental biologist.
She publishes a blog and did a story yesterday on beauty.

Rarely such a good text has been published about the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
Read for yourself:

Beauty - six letters, three vowels and three consonants, three syllables when pronounced – a round, fat, even lush “B” followed by a series of vowels, two that pair to create one sound and one that stands independent, punctuated with a “T” near, but not quite at the end…and finally ending in the lovely, particularly when written in cursive, and flowing “y.”

What does the word beauty mean to you? What do you consider beautiful? And do you consider it applicable to you? How do you respond to the question:

Are you the most beautiful person in the world?

Beginning in 2004, the photographic artist Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski posed this question to people around the world. He did so not knowing what to expect, how people would respond or even IF they would respond.

The question was asked in large advertisements placed in serious newspapers in 10 major cities around the world, asking readers who believed this to be the case to respond in writing with their reasons. Every person who responded was visited in their home where photographs where taken portraying how and with whom they were living. Finally, they were asked “Why do you believe you are the most beautiful person in the world?” and their responses were recorded.

Six years and a great deal of effort later, an amazing thing has resulted – a photo book of great spiritual and philosophical import, illustrating cultural and aesthetic differences and similarities among people living in various countries around the globe. But more than that - through his photos and the participants’ answers to the question “Why are you the most beautiful person in the world?” the artist has illuminated and expanded the ideas behind our notion of beauty. He has taken forceps to the concept, taken a closer look at an idea that is often expressed by a single six-letter word, something seemingly so simple and definable, and then, through the result of his investigation, challenges the viewer to examine their own limited ideas surrounding it. The book challenges our preconceived, culturally-imposed notions concerning beauty, while it sheds light on and expands our perception of a concept that, in the western world, has been squeezed down to Kate Moss-esque proportions by marketing and Hollywood-influenced media.

Michel takes us on a physical journey as well: to Africa where beauty is measured by the number of wives or head of cattle one has, the size of one's belly or the skills possessed that put food in the family's mouth; to China, where the beauty of a handicapped child is revealed through his love of song; and to Brazil where it is through her children that a mother sees her intrinsic beauty. And perhaps it is in the responses from people in Iran that, as a westerner, I felt my preconceptions dissolving, turning into something much more fluid.

Ultimately, it is the true measure of a person that Michel brings to light. By sharing this visionary project, he challenges the yardstick we use to measure a person’s worth, by which we judge ourselves and others.
The artist states that throughout the project the central theme of beauty informed and drove the process. Where previously he might have pushed to make something happen, in this case he allowed things to unfold naturally, making it possible for the beauty inherent in the process to shine through and drive it, even when things were looking bleak.

The beauty of the project shines so bright that the artist has decided that most copies of the book will be given away for free. A limited number of “luxury” editions are being produced for those who wish to support the project financially – the result being that the audience may directly participate in the project and, through a beautiful act, make it possible for someone to obtain the book who, under normal circumstances, might not have the resources necessary to.

And what about you? Are you the most beautiful person in the world? Tell us why.

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To read the blog of Dawn Pier, click on:
http://dawnpier.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-beauty.html

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Order now !

2010-10-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

The photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” is ready !
Order your copy now from:

http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org

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Food and water we need

2010-10-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

In Primary School was a smart boy who asked his friends:
“How far can you see? And a margin of error of one kilometer is tolerated.”

Many boys would think hard and harder and eventually come up with an answer like: 10 kilometers on a clear day.
The smart boy would then laugh and say:
“Can you see the moon and the stars?
They are much more far away than 10 kilometers!!”

There is always a smart boy who misuses his intelligence to make other boys feel stupid.
But next time the smart boy can be more precise.
Because a new galaxy has been discovered that is the most far away object we humans have ever seen.
Seen by the Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy called UDFy-38135539 is some 13 billion light years away.

According to Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656) though, God created the universe on October 23, 4004 BC.
That would make the universe 6023 years old in 2010 AD.
James Ussher was an Irish Archbishop whose chronology of Biblical history was widely accepted throughout Christianity.

But this time we are not fooled.
It is a scientific discovery made with hardware and no God of any Church has been involved.

By itself, the discovery of galaxy UDFy-38135539 is of no extraordinary significance.
There are over 100 million galaxies in the cosmos.
It is just that this one is the most far away we have ever seen.

And this makes us speculate about another thing.
The majority of the scientists believe that the “Big Bang”, the point in time when the universe was coming into existence, is roughly 13,6 billion years ago.
Now we are able to see the light of a galaxy that was shining 13,1 billion years ago.
(Distance is time, remember)
If we can improve our telescopes we may manage to look back in time to the moment of 13,6 billion years ago and see our own moment of creation!

This is not absurd or impossible.
These days scientists and engineers are building the “European Extremely Large Telescope” that will be ready the end of this decade.
This revolutionary new ground-based telescope will be 42 meters in diameter and will be the world's biggest eye on the sky.

But Dutch ex-astronaut Wubbo Ockels says it will be impossible to see the Big Bang, no matter how big we make our telescopes.
He claims that there are different realities.
One is a reality we have in our thinking that is created by being based on earth.
But according to Mr. Ockels, in space a totally different reality exists.
Where questions we have now do not have answers.

This is in line with the own attitude in life.
For a long time it is accepted that there are fundamental questions we humans have but that one can also learn to be satisfied with accepting there are no answers.
To let things are simply the way they are.
And to not get lost in a search for answers.

This way of thinking makes those telescopes of course a waste of money.
And they are.
The money could better be spend on improving the life on earth.
Let that become the big bang.

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To learn more about the discovery of the most far away galaxy ever, click on:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-10/hubble-glimpses-most-distant-object-ever-seen-galaxy-13-billion-light-years-away?page=

To learn more about the new European telescope, click on:

http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt.html

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Pivotal persons

2010-10-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the opening of the exhibition “Camden Interiors” in London, UK.
Large sized images of 50 living rooms with their occupants standing next to their TV set.
Made in 1972, they are now exhibited again for their artistic and historical value.

From the photo book "The First Twenty Years".

The next day an e-mail was received:

I have literally just come back from Swiss Cottage Gallery in London and I was absolutely fascinated by your photo project "Camden Interiors" from 1972 that the gallery will be exhibiting for the next few weeks. I am a journalism student and I would like to write an article about it and thus help raise awareness of your unique work.

Always these kinds of responses are motivating to continue to work.
And start yet another project.

But then there are the questions of the journalism student to answer.
Like these two:

1. Back in 1972, when knocking on doors trying to persuade people to have their apartments photographed, was there any incident, trouble or maybe a funny memory that you can recall?

2. Why, in the first place, did you decide to accept the offer of Camden Arts Centre and work on this one-of-a-kind project?

The answer to the first question is easy.
Hardly anything is remembered from trying to find 50 locations of which the occupants agreed to have a picture taken of them in their living room.
The job was done together with a young woman and it was very nice to work with her.
But in the memory not one visit to any of the living rooms is remembered.
Hey, it is 38 years ago!

Then the second question.
Why, in the first place, did you decide to accept the offer of Camden Arts Centre and work on this one-of-a-kind project?

The photo project “Camden Interiors” was a personal idea and proposed to the female Director of the Camden Arts Centre.
She wanted originally to show work that was already made:
sequences on the beaches of an island in the Netherlands.
But it was unacceptable to function as an artist photographer like all the other artists at the time: to make art and show it later in a museum.
There was this strong need to want to connect as many people as possible to the museum.
Through the own abilities to make art.

At the time, some museum people were open to new experiments and these curators were able to leave behind the traditional way of thinking about art and how to present it.
They opened their museum doors and gave the floors to progressive artists.

This is essential in the career of an artist.
To meet persons who become pivotal and instrumental in the development and presentation of the oeuvre.
There have been several of these generous angels in this career and the director of the Camden Arts Center in 1972 was for sure one of them.

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Shaken by happiness

2010-10-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

A very emotional day.
Feeling tremendous joy, exuberance, delight and relief.
Caused by a message sent by the printer of the photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
The photo book is ready.
Next week distribution and shipping starts.

The strong feelings this message caused was because it was realized that finally the objective had been reached.
After six years of hard work and insistently believing in the project.

It all started in Sao Paolo, Brazil in April 2004.
At that time life was with Jacqueline Duncan and a photo project called “World of little heroes” had just been finished.
Discussing with Jacqueline what new photo project to start, she came up with a splendid idea.
She had seen in the photo book “The First Twenty Years” not only the sequences but also two pages on a project performed in the Netherlands in 1988.
The photo project was called “De mooiste mensen van Nederland” (The most beautiful people in the Netherlands) and for this six men and six women were visited and photographed in their homes who had responded to an advertisement.
In this advertisement published in newspapers people had been asked to respond in case they had the opinion they were the most beautiful.
Jacqueline Duncan in Sao Paolo suggested: why don’t you perform this photo project worldwide?
Immediately it was recognized this was a great idea and soon advertisements were published in several Sao Paolo newspapers and not much later the first most beautiful Brazilian people were photographed.
This is how the project “The most beautiful people in the world” started.
After Brazil, the project was performed in the United States, Mexico, Poland, Spain, France, Iran, Namibia, China and India.
And this took until april 2008.
Exactly four years.

To go to those countries, to collaborate with the assistants, to meet those most beautiful people, it was an extraordinary experience.
Very interesting, revealing, entertaining and educational.
It was the best part of the project meeting people who had managed to find beauty in their lives.

The last two years were needed to come to a book publication.
Originally this was organized from Paris, France but in spite of serious commitments the French publisher backed out.
In hindsight this was a good development but it delayed publication with one year.

Producing the photo book, an effort was made to have this as a beautiful process as well.
That the beauty was not restricted to the faces on the images in the book, but that every activity of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” was a celebration of beauty.

And now there is a result.
THE result.
Six years of hard work coming to a climax.

During the six years doing this photo project there has been a short period that it was believed the whole thing would collapse and end in misery.
That the project would not have as a result the publication of a photo book.
This was in 2009 when the French publisher suddenly backed out and the economic crises had begun.
In those tragic days it was believed it was all just impossible: the right pictures but the wrong time.
A failed and unfinished project therefore.
Circumstances not favorable.

There have been many, many people that have gotten involved in the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.
Many have participated and contributed in fantastic ways.
Now, in the soon available photo book, there are two pages with the names of these heroes and heroines.
But at that time of crises, in 2009, when it seemed that the whole project had come to an unfortunate end with no result, there was one man who refused to accept this.
Who saw the potential of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” and believed that no matter what, it should come to a publication of a photo book.
He talked convincingly when meeting and wrote messages insisting not to give up.
He introduced the ingenious book designer Teun van der Heijden who would play a vital role in the book publishing part of the project.
And insisted so much that he made the fire going again.
He pushed to return to a position of almost megalomaniac ambition and now there is a photo book.
His name is Gerrit Jan Wolffensperger and very likely, without him we would not have a photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.

As many fervent and loyal blog readers know, the photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” can be obtained for free.
Part of the philosophy to have beauty in every aspect of the project and not to exploit commercially the people that have participated.
It can also be purchased as a “Luxury Edition”: the photo book signed by the author with a museum quality print in a beautiful box.
The proceeds of the “Luxury Edition” pay for the free copies.

Hence, now is the time to order your “Luxury Edition” and when not financially possible, to get the free copy.
Now that the photo book is ready, it is yours in a very short time!
Simply go to http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org and be beautiful too.

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Shaked by an earthquake

2010-10-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

Living in total liberty can drive someone insane.
Like this Saudi Arabian Prince that recently was convicted to many years in prison for killing in his hotel room his valet.
The Prince had all the money in the world and nothing to do and drowned in the pit of nothingness.

But at El Triple, the location in Mexico of the full emptiness, no signs of insanity can be noticed.
This is achieved by having a severe disciplined life.
A strict structure of moments of activities that is performed every very day.
Waking up and rising is always before the sun comes to shine from behind the mountains.
Breakfast is always a glass of orange juice with a multivitamin pill.
Followed by a bowl of four spoons of oatmeal and one spoon of Svelty milk powder.

And so it continues.
Every hour of the day is programmed and never there is a diversion of the schedule.

This may sound rigid and crazy but in fact it is a way to reach a fantastic state of happiness in the life.
This strict schedule opens the way to a higher level of being because the ordinary life that has become on purpose an endlessly repeating routine, kind of disappears.
When the ordinary life has vanished, the extraordinary life becomes available to live and experience and enjoy.

This is why yesterday at around noon it was the scheduled lunch inside the Fuso Szulc.
Two slices of toasted bread: one with Gouda cheese and one with organic raspberry preserves.
With a glass of apple juice and a prune to finish.

There was a wind outside of about 15 km per hour. ( 9 miles ).
And suddenly the Fuso Szulc started to shake.
As if a strong gust of wind had hit the vehicle making it dance on its six wheels.

Immediately the Davis Vantage Vue weather center was checked to learn how many km per hour this wind gust actually was.
But the indicator said it was not more than this 15 km per hour.
No more thought was given to this discrepancy.
As alone the consideration to put more stabilizers underneath the Fuso Szulc.

Later that day one of our fervent and loyal blog readers did send this message:

“You feel what is reported to be a big earthquake today? You ok?”

It was then it was realized it had been an earthquake shaking the Fuso Szulc.

Confirmed by this report from the Associated Press:

Powerful earthquake rocks Mexico's Gulf of California
Associated Press
Posted on October 21, 2010 at 2:25 PM
Updated today at 2:28 PM

MEXICO CITY -- A powerful earthquake struck offshore in Mexico’s Gulf of California on Thursday, causing people to flee into the streets in the western state of Sinaloa, causing fear but no immediate reports of damage or injury.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake that hit at 11:53 a.m. (1:53 p.m. EDT, 1753 GMT) was calculated as 6.9 and struck about 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Los Mochis, a city just inland from the coast in Sinaloa.
The epicenter was 85 miles (140 kilometers) northeast of La Paz in Baja California Sur and was at a relatively shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
Sinaloa civil protections authorities reported no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Alberto Montoya Rodriguez, who runs the losmochis.com website from his home in Ahome, north of the city, said it seemed to shake for more than a minute, sending him and his neighbors into the streets.
"There was a lot a panic," he said, but there was no damage beyond "just a big scare."
Alejandra Cruz, a worker who answered the telephone at the Best Western Hotel in Los Mochis, said employees and guests were evacuated but returned to the building shortly after.
"We had customers in the restaurant that took to the streets," added Sujey Becerra, an employee of Las Fuentes Los Mochis, another hotel in the city.
The same region was hit by three moderately powerful earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 5.5 to 5.8 Tuesday night and early Wednesday, but they caused no known damage.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Check the recent earthquake by clicking gently on:

http://www.khou.com/news/Powerful-earthquake-rocks-Mexicos-Gulf-of-California--105461393.html

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Opening doors

2010-10-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

In 1972, there was an invitation from a museum in London, UK, the Camden Arts Center, to participate in an exhibition called “Photography into Art”.
At the time photography was seen as an applied art form.
Like fashion and ceramics.
Work made to serve another purpose not decided by the photographer.

But even as a student the thought had come up never to work for anybody else but only to do the fantastic ideas that came up constantly in the own mind.
Using photography as a tool as artists use painting and sculpting.

This has been a major development in photography and it happened in the early 70’s of last century.
Artists who transformed photography from an applied art form into an independent art form.

The clever curators of the Camden Arts Center in London, UK were one of the first to notice this development and therefore organized the exhibition “Photography into Art” in 1972.
A very good title, “Photography into Art”, because it explained that photography had been upgraded by artists to become a serious art form.

A catalog was published with this exhibition “Photography into Art”.
A large book and if it is in your library it is an asset of great value now.

When the proposal came to participate in this exhibition “Photography into Art”, it was refused to show existing work.
Instead, the request was made to go to Camden, London and make work especially for the exhibition.
Somehow there was money for this and soon weeks were spent in London doing three different photo projects.

One of them was called “Camden Interiors”.
The plan was to try to get as many persons living in Camden to this exhibition “Photography into Art”.
Not only the elite but the common man and woman and children as well.
To change the museum from being the ivory tower it very much was in the early 70’s into a public place interesting for anybody.
The trick was to show and promote something in the museum the people had created themselves to make those the objects of the exhibition.
Obviously, the self made object was their living room.
An environment the result of the private taste, history and creativity.
Another reason to chose for this particular expression of personal taste was the knowledge that always there is curiosity to want to see how exactly the neighbors live.

It was a laborious job to find 50 persons who were accepting to let the photographer and his charming assistant in and to be photographed in the living room standing next to the TV set.
It took two weeks of knocking on doors, using never failing enthusiasm and never accepting disappointment.
The assistant was truly great for this job.

The persons that accepted to be photographed and to be in the exhibition received a document.
With this they could come to the show in the Camden Arts Center and receive a free copy of their image.
Another way to promote to come to the museum.

Meanwhile the Camden Arts Center had informed their press contacts about this unique photo project.
Result was that the newspaper The Times did a story and the BBC radio as well.
This had the fantastic effect that many people from Camden and elsewhere in London came to see the exhibition to check how other people were actually living.

“Camden Interiors”, a series of 50 black and white pictures, was purchased by the Camden Archives shortly after the exhibition.
And guess what, again they are doing a show of these images!
Why?
Aidan Flood, the curator:

“Your photographs, apart from being beautiful, have acquired an added dimension as historical documents showing fashion, furnishings, and living styles from an era that has passed but which will resonate with many of the viewers”.

Voila.
When in London between October 22 and December 19, 2010, go and see this exhibition of the “Camden Interiors” in the Swiss Cottage Gallery on 88 Avenue Road.

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rolling retreat

2010-10-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

It is now two weeks of retreat at El Triple, the abandoned and desolate location on the West coast of Baja California in Mexico.
With on one side the Pacific Ocean and on the other side a desert.
And pelicans flying by in formation.

Concerning supplies, it is still a good time.
Well, of course all the bananas have been eaten.
And the melons and papayas as well.
But this is because they cannot be kept in this warm weather for a long time.

There is still 50 liters (13 gallons) of drinking water.
In two weeks 30 liters (8 gallons) have been used.
With an average of 2 liter per day, the supply will last for at least 25 days.

The main water tank of the Fuso Szulc, water that is used for washing the dishes and the face and hands, containing about 300 liters (80 gallons) is still having 71 % of capacity.
30 % in 14 days means plenty of water for another month.

The large propane tank, supplying gas for cooking and the fridge, is at 56 % of capacity.
Three weeks of propane left.

Dinner is also not really strangling the pilgrim and forcing to go to a supermarket soon.
The strategy is applied of cooking double portions each time.
One is eaten and the other goes into a Ziplock bag into the freezer.
Once the vegetables in the fridge have all been eaten, it is time to eat the frozen food.

A more precarious issue are fruits.
After two weeks there are still grapefruits, mangoes, prunes, apples and pears.
But probably after two more weeks it will be apples only.
Because they can be kept the longest in warm weather.
As of then, it is an apple for breakfast mixed with the oat meal at 07.00 h., an apple at 10.30 h., an apple after lunch at 12.30 h., and an apple after the afternoon walk at 15.00 h.
There are many apples on board.

What also decides how long the Fuso Szulc can stay at El Triple is the hardware.
For the moment everything operates normally.
Although, this analogue clock broke down.
But one can live easily without an analogue clock.
At the place where this clock was is now a Casio World Watch showing the analogue time.

Again every day running is performed.
On Nike Air shoes.
And they are ready to be replaced.
The souls have cracks and one lace hole broke.
But they still serve.
No reason to run away to town.

Then, maybe a human factor decides how long this retreat may take?
Because it is a time now of solitary existence with no other human beings coming close as alone the pilot in the Mexican Air Force Pilatus PC7 airplane flying by sometimes and the fishermen on the shrimp boats far away on the Pacific Ocean.
Maybe a desire develops eventually to want to be among others?

This is the beauty of the current existence.
It is in total freedom that life is lived.
If there is still food on board but the desire starts dominating to want to be with people, immediately the Fuso Szulc will head for the nearest town.
It is life lived from intuition: what feels good is the right way.
And how good El Triple still feels!

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No enemy but prepared to fight

2010-10-19T07:57:00.001-07:00

Why is it, fervent and loyal blog readers, that a smile comes on our face when we hear about the Mexican Airforce?
That we don’t feel even a beginning of being serious about them?

This starts with the general conviction that a military air force in Mexico will always be a paradox.
And for a military force to be a paradox is a wrong foundation when you want to fight and win.
Imagine, to the east Mexico has a sea as a border: the Gulf of Mexico where the only enemy found are hurricanes and oil spills.
To the west Mexico has the Pacific Ocean as a border and the nearest enemy there is Japan that has been taught in WW2 not to be so naughty anymore.
To the south Mexico has real neighbors: Guatemala and Belize.
The air force of Guatemala consists of 93 airplanes of which not one can attack.
Most are transport planes and helicopters.
Belize has an air force consisting of 5 planes all for transportation and training.

One doesn’t need to be a military expert on air war fare to conclude that Mexico has nothing to be afraid of from the South, the East and the West.
Now, what about the North?
Big Brother USA lives there and has the largest air force in the world.
More than 6.000 airplanes and many of them can drop bombs.

Now, it is no secret that those + 6.000 fighter planes are not all positioned with their noses towards Mexico.
But nevertheless, a smart air force general will never even begin to think of fighting an enemy that has over 6.000 planes when having yourself only 363 outdated flying machines.
Because that is the amount of planes the Mexican Air Force has.

So, if there is no enemy to the East and to the West, and no enemy to take serious to the South but an enemy to the North that makes anyone run away for cover, why have an air force?

Frequently this fundamental question is answered by the Mexican Air Force.
They have the 9th Military Air Base near La Paz, the town about three hours from El Triple, the current location of living and working.
At this Air Base is the 2nd Air Group consisting of the 203 Air Squadron.
They fly the Pilatus PC-7 from there.
The Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.

This aircraft is capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and night flying.

Sometimes they come right above El Triple when teaching new pilots how to fly.

And on rare occasions they even do loop-the-loops!
Hurray for the Mexican Air Force!

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In Holland life is worth $ 110.000

2010-10-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

It is a figure that is astonishing and probably is valid for many more countries: one out of three persons from the Netherlands will get cancer.
That is a pretty high risk.
If flying had the same figures, every plane out of three having an accident, not many people will feel comfortable to book a trip.

But life is not a plane ticket and we are traveling on a forced upon journey.
Not to be the one out of the three getting cancer remains a lottery although it may help not to smoke and to eat healthy and to do exercises and to be happy and relaxed.

The issue that is coming up in the Netherlands these days is the costs of treating patients with cancer.
It is becoming a moral and ethical matter.
For example, there are people with cancer who are terminal.
They will die of the cancer no matter what and often the doctors can say how much time more they can live.
There was this man who had cancer of the bladder that had spread to the lymph nodes.
He was soon going to die.
A matter of weeks.
But in the hospital they had a strong medicine that would guarantee he would have two months more of painless and comfortable living.
After he also would die.
The man was excited to be able to live happily for another two months.
But the issue was that the medicine was costing € 4.000 ( $ 5.600 )
Should the health insurance of this unfortunate man pay for this medicine?

The answer is, they don’t know.
Not yet.
There are no unlimited amounts of money for health care.
Choices need to be made.
Is it responsible to pay to have somebody live two months longer?
For the moment the Government of the Netherlands have a guideline:
the financial limit of costs for medical treatment should not surpass the amount of € 80.000 ($ 110.000 ) annually.

This means that the chemotherapy a cancer patient is getting may be halted once it is costing over € 80.000 within 12 months.
Or the chemotherapy will not even be started if the doctors know it will exceed the financial limit.

A disturbing aspect to this dilemma is that in the case of oncology a lot of the treatment is not more than slowing the tumors therefore only extending the time of life.
Sometimes with weeks, sometimes with months.
Therefore the question lives how much money the community should make available for this purpose.
For the people who can’t pay for it themselves.

In Africa it has been witnessed that the old man of a Kraal who could not assist anymore in feeding the family by working on the land took a jar and walked away into the mountains.
To die and not be a burden to his family.
But this sense of responsibility for the community has been terminated once societies adapted capitalism and liberalism.

In the end, these days, money decides how long a person will live.
You can go far, in case you have a good health insurance.
But more far if you are rich: you can buy your own time.

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Growling growl

2010-10-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Suddenly whenever a person comes on line when using Skype, a message appears on the computer screen saying who it is.
First it was believed this was really neat.
While puzzled how this suddenly could happen.

But then yesterday out of the blue a similar message came on the screen saying that now there was an update of “Growl” available.
“Growl” ?
What is “Growl” ?
A new trick to have a computer worm enter the hard disk?

To be on the safe side, “Growl” was Googled.
And it is indeed a software program.
That can do things on the computer like informing who has come on line for Skype.
Officially it says this: “Growl is a notification system for Mac OS X: it allows applications that support Growl to send you notifications”.

But how then can “Growl” suddenly become manifest if it is totally unknown and therefore never downloaded, installed and made operational?
Who here is in control, fervent and loyal blog readers?
How far can it go in others controlling your computer?

More research revealed that Growl is sometimes packaged with other software program.
And this is the explanation.
Recently, in the new Apple shop in Temecula, California, USA, the latest version of Photoshop was acquired.
CS5.
It was installed on the MacBook Pro and used with great pleasure and satisfaction ever since.
Now it has become clear that Adobe, the maker of Photoshop, includes “Growl” and simply installs it without informing the customer.
“Growl” might be perfect for Photoshop but it also affects other programs like Skype.
A ghost is put into the machine.

The policy of Adobe is to pretend this is an acceptable way of doing.
While “Growl” says they believe it is very unfortunate in this way their software is distributed.
And they offer on their website another program to uninstall “Growl”.

Of course “Growl” is not very sorry at all.
And very few people will ever go through the hassle to uninstall “Growl”.

What to do?
One can see “Growl” as a gift.
A present.
And make the best use of “Growl” as possible.
What the heck.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To learn more about “Growl”, see:
http://growl.info/

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They are back!

2010-10-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

We call them “sand dollars”.
But by experts they are known as Clypeasteroide.
And they can explain that this beautiful object we find on the beach is in fact the skeleton of an animal.

A sea urchin that lives in the sand and eats crustacean larvae, small copepods, algae and deritus.
When alive, the sand dollar is covered with fine hair and it can move slowly.
When it dies it can wash on the beach without any covering anymore.
And then one sees something exceptionally perfect and astounding.
Something that is perfect in its design, in its symmetry, in its decoration.

In the past, on the beach of El Triple, sand dollars were frequently found.
And always brought back to the encampment.
Because of their beauty and perfectness, no wonder they managed to play a role in many of the sequences, VISTA pictures and the images of the PS-series.

But over the last few years less and less sand dollars were found.
It became exceptional to find one.

Until this time of retreat.
In the last seven days five beautiful sand dollars have been found.
Somehow they are back.

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E.T., you are not welcome!

2010-10-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Probably all of the fervent and loyal blog readers are aware we have the United Nations.
Based in New York they discuss the problems of the world and rarely have adequate solutions.

But the United Nations have sub-divisions too.
Like Unesco and Unoosa.

Now, probably not many fervent and loyal blog readers have ever heard of Unoosa.
Unoosa stands for: United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
And for sure, this is not made up.
It is seriously a body of the United Nations.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is headed by a woman from Malaysia called Mazlan Othman.
She is an astrophysicist.

And yesterday the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs was having a General Meeting on cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space.
There Ms. Mazlan Othman made a remarkable statement.
She said in her speech:

“We Earthlings are poorly prepared to respond should there be contact from aliens”

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To this statement we should strongly protest!
How come an astrophysicist from Malaysia is allowed to speak for all of us?
Because ask yourself: are you prepared to respond should there be contact from aliens?
Probably many people will be very prepared.
They get their shotgun and shoot the bastard.
Or call the police seeing the intruder.
And many people will have a more peaceful attitude.
Inviting the alien into the living room, offering a cup of tea and asking how it is at home with the family.

Even here at El Triple: a most likely place for aliens to land their flying saucer.
There is nobody to witness the event and there is just one simple and harmless Earthlink to deal with.
Who is most friendly and willing to receive them cordially.
To the contrary of what Ms. Mazlan Othman believes.

But there is a twist to the story.
Ms. Mazlan Othman also says that statistically, extraterrestrial life is a possibility.
And that we could find life, though when discussing extraterrestrial life, it is not always green aliens with large lovely eyes, but most likely bacteria.

Now that changes the matter.
Bacteria from other planets are definitely not welcome here.
They can wipe us out, fervent and loyal blog readers, and then there are no more blogs anymore to read.
And in that sense Ms. Mazlan Othman is right.
When alien bacteria come to Earth, what can we do?
Even now, fighting our own bacteria with antibiotics we are losing the battle.
Conclusion: alien bacteria are not welcome on Earth!

And in fact green aliens with large lovely eyes either.
Imagine, these days the film studios in the San Fernando Valley in California, USA where they make porno movies are closed because of the HIV-Aids virus.
Green aliens with large lovely eyes may carry unknown viruses closing down eventually all of Earth.

Let’s make a huge sign in the Mojave Desert and the Kalahari desert and the Australian desert saying:

E.T.’s NOT WELCOME.

cold and warm

2010-10-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

So often we hear about climate change and the poles melting and the sea levels rising.
Scientifically this is a true and proven fact but what do we notice in our daily lives?

One of the things that always has been done when living at El Triple in Baja California, Mexico was to measure the highest and lowest daily temperatures.
And to store this data in a document on the computer.

This is why we can compare now the temperatures of these October 2010 days with the ones when also bivouacking at El Triple in October 2007.

Date Lowest Highest

10-10-2007 20,1º C 33,4º C
10-10-2010 17.8º C 28.8º C

11-10-2007 19,9º C 33,4º C
11-10-2010 16.7º C 28.5º C

12-10-2007 19,1º C 32,5º C
12-10-2010 13.4º C 30.6º C

13-10-2007 19,0º C 34,0º C
13-10-2010 18.4º C 30.8º C

Three years ago during those four October days it was warmer at El Triple compared to the current days.
But that has not necessarily anything to do with the truth about climate change.
It might be just a cooler Autumn this year.

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What it costs

2010-10-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here some prices of products recently purchased in a Mexican supermarket.
Compared also to prices paid in the past.
Check this out with the prices in your own store.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 liter of fruit juice

In 2010:
10 Mexican Pesos
0.81 $
0,58 €

In 2009:
14,00 Mexican Pesos
1.06 $
0,74 €

In 2008:
13,60 Mexican Pesos
0,77 €
1,02 $

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of mangoes

In 2010:
14,90 Mexican Pesos
1.20 $
0,86 €

In 2008:
1 kilo of mangoes
39,90 Mexican Pesos
2,27 €
2,98 $

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of Red Delicious apples

In 2010
26,90 Mexican Pesos
2.17 $
1,56 €

In 2009:
18,90 Mexican Pesos
1.43 $
1,00 €

In 2008:
27,90 Mexican Pesos
1,59 €
2,08 $

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of avocados

In 2010:
23 Mexican Pesos
1.86 $
1,34 €

In 2009:
48,90 Mexican Pesos
3.70 $
2,60 €

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of yellow peppers

In 2010:
49,90 Mexican Pesos
4.03 $
2,89 €

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of grapefruits

In 2010:
12,90 Mexican Pesos
1.04 $
0,75 €

In 2009:
13,60 Mexican Pesos
1.03 $
0,72 €

In 2008:
8,90 Mexican Pesos
0,51 €
0,66 $

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of melons

In 2010:
11,90 Mexican Pesos
0.96 $
0,69 €

In 2008:
9,95 Mexican Pesos
0,57 €
0,74 $

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of bananas

In 2010:
13,90 Mexican Pesos
1.12 $
0,80 €

In 2009:
13,80 Mexican Pesos
1.04 $
0,73 €

In 2008:
12,90 Mexican Pesos
0,73 €
0,96 $

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of tomatoes

In 2010:
19,90 Mexican Pesos
1.61 $
1,16 €

In 2009:
17,50 Mexican Pesos
1.32 $
0,92 €

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1 kilo of Danjou pears

In 2010:
31,90 Mexican Pesos
2.58 $
1,85 €

In 2009:
33,90 Mexican Pesos
2.56 $
1,80 €

In 2008:
27,90 Mexican Pesos
1,59 €
2,08 $

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Colgate toothpaste 75 mg

In 2010
47,83 Mexican Pesos
3.86 $
2,77 €

In 2009:
20,00 Mexican Pesos
1.51 $
1,06 €

In 2008:
16,50 Mexican Pesos
0,94 €
1,23 $

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Doctors for the heart needed

2010-10-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Recently lunch was in Newport Beach south of Los Angeles on a terrace of an Italian restaurant with a good friend.
The sun was shining and the food was good.
What do two men talk about when in such heaven-like circumstances?
Eventually always about women.
Not about women as such but about the experiences with them.

As life has organized it, both men on that Newport Beach terrace had separated recently and therefore a lot was to share.

One thing that for both was clear is that it is better now.
That it is a difficult period in the life but that the direction it is going in is good and that better times are coming.
Concerning women and a possible relationship with one of them.

The good friend speeds up the process by seeing a psycho-therapist weekly and being subscribed to a dating agency.
Regularly he dates women whose profile he likes but until now a suitable candidate has not been found.
At the foundation of this activity is the strong desire to want to have a partner.
To wish to share life with a woman.
And the mysterious question is whether it is a good method to actually have a desire.
To have the ambition to want to be with a woman.
That this desire and ambition gets too much in the way of falling in love in a pure way without any strings attached.
Desire and ambition are personal interests and a partner is asked to fulfill them.
So, how much chance has that woman to be chosen because of who she is?
With a lot of desire and ambition a partner might be found that will suit the own needs only.
And is it that a relationship is about?

The psycho-therapist is an older woman and when the good friend tells her that he is still full of anger towards the ex-wife he has separated, she responds by saying that anger is in fact pain.
Anger is pain.
That is something to think about.
It suggests that if the pain is accepted for what it is, the anger will not be there.
Fine.
But how to leave pain behind then?
How to dissolve it?

It is obvious that someone must first deal efficiently with pain that is a result of a separation before to get involved with a new partner.
To be without pain to have to offer a clean and healthy heart.

There must be experts among the many fervent and loyal blog readers who have ideas how to deal with pain after a separation.
What are they?

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Hurry to die

2010-10-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

There is a famous Dutch poem called “The gardener and Death”.
It is written by the poet P.N. van Eyck.
It goes like this:

De tuinman en de dood

Een Perzisch Edelman:
Van morgen ijlt mijn tuinman, wit van schrik, Mijn woning in: "Heer, Heer, één ogenblik!
Ginds, in de rooshof, snoeide ik loot na loot, Toen keek ik achter mij. Daar stond de Dood.
Ik schrok, en haastte mij langs de andere kant, Maar zag nog juist de dreiging van zijn hand.
Meester, uw paard, en laat mij spoorslags gaan, Voor de avond nog bereik ik Ispahaan!" -
Van middag (lang reeds was hij heengespoed) Heb ik in 't cederpark de Dood ontmoet.
"Waarom," zo vraag ik, want hij wacht en zwijgt, "Hebt gij van morgen vroeg mijn knecht gedreigd?"
Glimlachend antwoordt hij: "Geen dreiging was 't, Waarvoor uw tuinman vlood. Ik was verrast,
Toen 'k 's morgens hier nog stil aan 't werk zag staan, Die 'k 's avonds halen moest in Ispahaan."

P.N. van Eyck

This poem was translated by David Colmer
And that goes as follows:

The Gardener and Death

A Persian Nobleman:

This morning, with a face turned pale from fright,
My gardener rushed in, "Sir, if I might!

"At work, just now, I stopped to take a breath,
And looked up from the roses. There stood Death.

"Startled, I quickly left the work I'd planned,
But saw full well the menace of his hand.

"Lend me a horse and I will make it run.
Before night falls I'll be in Ispahan!"

This afternoon (I'd long since watched him flee),
I chanced on Death beneath a cedar tree.

When he just stood there in his cloak of grey,
I asked about the threat he'd made that day.

He smiled, "It was not threat as he surmised.
I raised my hand because I was surprised,

"To find a man here working in the sun,
Whom I must fetch tonight in Ispahan."

This poem came to mind because of the recent death of Solomon Burke.
The famous soul singer.

Some time ago he was booked to perform at a private party in the Netherlands.
That must have been for quite an amount of money because Solomon Burke is a successful business man.
Besides, he moves his 300 kilos body around in a wheelchair, therefore flying long distance through crowded airports is for him not an easy thing to do.

On top of everything, it turned out that his concert at the private party in the Netherlands was canceled.

While waiting for a flight back to the USA, he decided to go to a concert of a Dutch band called “De Dijk”.
A band that is together for over thirty years and does light Rock and Roll and ballads in the Dutch language.

Solomon Burke was very enthusiastic about “De Dijk” and when he met the band members he learned that he was one of their idols.

This contact resulted in “De Dijk” translating into English their best songs and Solomon Burke came again to the Netherlands and sang those songs that became his new CD.

Next, “De Dijk” and Solomon Burke decided to give a concert together in the Netherlands tomorrow.
For this he flew last Sunday to Amsterdam again where after arrival, he died at the airport, finding his Ispahan.

.

.

When to apply.

2010-10-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

The incident involved three victims being held against their will by as many as nine assailants who beat them in a vacant apartment and sodomized two of them.
A fourth victim was beaten and robbed in connection with the attacks.

The string of attacks, which occurred Sunday one week ago, began when members of a street gang calling themselves the Latin King Goonies in New York learned that an aspiring member is gay.
The 17-year-old pledge was forced into an unoccupied apartment around 3:30 a.m. Sunday and questioned about his contact with a 30-year-old man.
He was thrown into a wall, forced to strip naked, hit in the head with a beer can, cut with a box cutter and sodomized with the wooden handle of a plunger.
His assailants let him go, but threatened to hurt him or his family if he talked.

The victim went to a hospital for treatment, but claimed his injuries were from an attack by unknown assailants on the street.

At about 8:30 p.m Sunday, another 17-year-old was beaten and questioned about the same 30-year-old man, robbed of jewelry and held against his will in the same vacant apartment.

At 9:30 p.m., the 30-year-old man was lured to the location where that 17-year-old was being held, was forced to strip naked and was tied to a chair opposite the teenager.
The teenager was forced to hit the older male several times in the face and burn him with cigarettes, after which the suspects assaulted him with their fists and a chain and sodomized him with a small baseball bat.
The 30-year-old man was later dumped outside his home.

Five of the suspects then went to the apartment the 17-year-old victim shared with his older brother and let themselves in using a key they'd taken from the man.
They beat the man's brother and demanded money from him.
When he refused, the assailants put a cell phone to his ear and he heard his younger brother say that he was being held against his will and to "give them the money,".
The older brother told the suspects where they could find the money, after which they tied him up and left the apartment.

The police was informed and arrested Bryan Almonte, 17, Steven Caraballo, 17, Brian Cepeda, 16, Nelson Falu, 17, Ildefonzo Mendez, 23, Denis Peitars, 17 and David Rivera, 21, on Friday.
Pending charges against them include unlawful imprisonment, abduction, sodomy, assault, robbery, and menacing, all as hate crimes.

One suspect is still at large.
22-year-old Ruddy Vargas-Perez.

If you see him, call the cops.

And if you meet this 17-year old boy that applied to become a member of the Latin King Goonies, tell him not to do so anymore.

.

.

A crazy woman?

2010-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

The first morning of the new retreat at El Triple had right away a rather weird experience.
Working early in the morning on the Apple Macbook Pro computer with a cup of Twining’s English breakfast tea and the sun rising from the horizon, suddenly a woman arrived.

A woman of Indian heritage with black hair and an olive colored skin.
Maybe about thirty years old.
Carrying a bag and a blanket.

This was a huge surprise: in the thirty years time has been spend at El Triple, never a single woman has been coming by.
And this on foot.

This location is far away from any settlement: the nearest village would need half a day of walking.
Sometimes an old battered up pick up truck may come by: usually fishermen looking for lost lobster traps.
But by foot never anybody came by, let alone a woman.
Usually it takes weeks and weeks at El Triple before to see another human being.

But this morning a woman who immediately came to the open door of the Fuso Szulc.
Asking for water.
She had an old Gatorade bottle with a little water left.

Very soon it became clear it was a confused woman.
Irrational and incoherent.
Not able to answer questions like where she lived and where she came from.
Instead rattling about factories and other nonsense subjects.

She spotted a cool box with grapefruits and asked if she could have one.
And then started to take off her clothes.

Obviously she had been sleeping on the beach.
Her blanket was still full of sand.
And her hair wild and face unwashed.
Off came her sweater to reveal a tanktop.
She had large breasts free to be.
Then she took off her pants and underneath she was wearing a pair of long shorts.
Obviously the rising sun made her warm.
The clothes went into her bag and while continuing to talk about things maybe in the universe of spirits make sense, she prepared to continue her walk.
She was asked if a picture could be made of her but this was not of her liking.

Then she took off.
Continuing her walk.
Who is confused?

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How to become Tarzan again

2010-10-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

The solar system is fixed: Xavier managed to find a part that was fitting and all the cables are in the right place again.
The caps of the exhaustion pipes of the tanks on the roof of the Fuso Szulc have been cleaned, painted and with a new and better system attached securely.

Already part of the food supplies needed for a month long stay at El Triple, the abandoned bay at the Pacific Ocean, have been purchased.
This morning fruit and vegetables will be bought, the water and diesel tank filled and then slowly the road will be driven to this unique location.
For an ascetic and meditative life for weeks to come.

One important thing that will be worked on while at El Triple is the health.
When traveling and staying in Europe, life is in fact very disorganized compared to the regular life style.
Very often the location where to stay is changed and this creates a kind of unrest.
Also the food that is eaten is often not as is preferred and what is good for the body.
Too often dinner is with friends in restaurants and that is often not very good food.
Too fat for sure.
And then there is the drinking.
When living in the life that is considered truly the own and the best, no alcohol ever is consumed.
But when with family and friends in Europe, especially wine with dinner almost always is present.
And consumed often in a quantity of a bottle per person.
And when this happens almost every evening and this for months, the effects can easily be noticed.
One of them is that the body becomes more heavy.
Gains weight.

Another habit while in the own life are the daily exercises.
Usually the day starts with gymnastics.
In the afternoon there is yoga and before dinner a good run of at least 40 minutes.
But when traveling in Europe nothing of all this finds a place and a time to be performed.
Another reason why in fact the body deteriorates.

But now it is back to business as usual.
No more excuses.
The muscle pain will be terrible...

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Building up what broke down

2010-10-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Several personal messages were received because of the recent blog in which some words were written about the Queen of Dreams.

Among many fervent and loyal blog readers there is slight concern for her.
But this is probably not necessary.
The separation was in June and within one week the Queen of Dreams had a new boyfriend.
Proudly she came by to tell that she was in love again.
Recently she told she was having an unbelievable harmonious relationship with this man.
Never a quarrel.
So, we can only be happy for her.

Meanwhile many shops and places were visited in La Paz, Mexico, to find a replacement for the solar cable control box.
It requires a specific state of mind.
Such items are not easy to find or are even not available at all.
The hunt must be done without any emotion.
The conclusion for the solar cable control box is that in La Paz it is not for sale.
Nor the cable connecting parts that are in it.
However, that doesn’t matter.
We always have Javier who is a master in improvisation.
He will make out of metal by hand the parts.

There are other issues with the Fuso Szulc.
The air conditioning has stopped working completely.
It makes no sense to take the truck to a Mitsubishi dealer in the United States: the guarantee on the vehicle has been expired.
Experts say that it can be fixed here in La Paz: it seems to be a matter of replacing the compressor.
Probably that can wait because the plan is to go in retreat at El Triple: that means a few drives in the next coming months and while on location the AC is not used anyway.

Another issue was that a loudspeaker in the cabin had broken.
A Kicker Marine loudspeaker.
That was easy to fix because in Mexico shops can be found that sell car audio and install.
Now two Panasonic loudspeakers have been installed: they come in pairs only…

Three more issues to resolve besides the solar cable control box.
On the roof one metal hood of the exhaust tube of the waste water tank has broken off.
Rust again…

And a ventilator in the back of the refrigerator has stopped working.
An analogue clock gave up.

This is life in an expedition vehicle.
When using it permanently, things break down.
Also because of the extreme weather circumstances.
Heat.
Sunshine.
Salty moisture.

Fixing all these problems has become part of life as of the day life came to be in the Fuso Szulc.
One important effect is that it doesn’t upset anymore.

And that is amazing because the Datastorm Satellite System to get on the Internet is completely broken and connection can only be made manually…

But the sun shines, the sky is blue, life is free of tension and stress, it is again in the own hands so the technical challenges don’t matter at all.

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Store like an anchor

2010-10-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

The Fuso Szulc had been parked during the four months in Europe very near the Los Cabos Airport in Mexico.
On the large property of a company called Anchor Storage.

The expedition vehicle had been treated during those four months like a friend.
Frequently having its doors and windows opened to let the heat out.
And right before the owner returned, the whole vehicle was cleaned inside and outside.

Reception was like returning to friends.
Gregorio was there and his friend and on request the water tank of the Fuso Szulc was filled with fresh water and it was hooked up to the main electricity.
When it was time to have dinner, the friend offered to drive to the nearest supermarket to get supplies.
Some time later, all together, food and beer was enjoyed chatting and exchanging experiences.
The night was spent in the Fuso Szulc at Anchor Storage’s place and in the morning beautiful general manager Ana Hulko, a woman with style and dignity, introduced herself.
Offering to make use of the WIFI-system of Anchor Storage.
And later to have a coffee.
A large cup of vanilla flavored coffee with a set of Oatmeal cookies.

When the truck needed a boost of power to start the engine, Gregorio hooked the Fuso Szulc up to the company’s car batteries solving that challenge.

The Fuso Szulc was at Anchor Storage for four months.
Costing US$ 74
That includes fabulous service.

The Fuso Szulc had developed a problem over the last four months.
On the roof are six solar panels and their cables come all together in a central box there.
From this central box one cable goes to the Heliotrope Solar Charger Controller.
Somehow moisture or even rainwater had managed to get into the central box.
Making the metal parts rust.
Some metal was even completely eaten away.
This causes the solar system not to be effective.
Today the hunt is on in La Paz, Mexico, for a new central box for the cables of the solar panels.

Another issue is the air conditioning of the truck.
That serves the cabin of the Mitsubishi Fuso FG truck.
This AC has never worked properly.
Many times at the dealership in San Diego complaints have been made but the reply was always that everything seemed fine.
In June the AC system began to rattle.
It was checked by a specialist and indeed something is the matter.
Now, after having been idle for four months, the AC doesn’t work at all.
One thing that can be done is to have again the pressure of the AC gas checked.
But it looks that the Mitsubishi Fuso needs to return to a Mitsubishi dealer in the USA.
Because also a letter has been received from Mitsubishi for a recall.
Something is wrong with rubbers holding the cabin to the chassis.

A new trip to the USA in the time to come.
How exciting!

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Anchor Storage in Cabo San Lucas next to the Los Cabos Airport.
US cell 3036566755
US Office 3035452279
Mexican Office 6241722319
www.anchorstorage.com.mx

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Smoking out helps

2010-10-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Returned to the world that surrounds the Fuso Szulc.
A different temperature, a different culture, a different life style.
A situation where things are done with intensity as if worshiping life.
Every activity a celebration.

Returning to the Fuso Szulc also brings back memories.
Of the last three months that life was in the expedition vehicle together with the Queen of Dreams.
Remembering that time in all harmony now and with enough distance in time and away from emotions made a disrupting conclusion follow.
It was an awful time.
From the beginning.
To the end.
Although a strong effort was made, nothing can be remembered that was really nice.
All experiences were having difficulty, complexity and disharmony.

The fervent and loyal blog readers should keep in mind though that here and now the Queen of Dreams is not being blamed.
It is not about who was responsible.
If a person has Borderline Personality Disorder it depends how a partner respond to it how happy life together will be.
Obviously the pioneering photographer was unable to deal with it appropriately and effectively.
And has learned important lessons.
Like lesson number one.
No person ever will be invited anymore to come and live in the Fuso Szulc and experience the specific and unique life style and locations that are visited unless that person has been known for enough time to be assured there are no unknown sides to the personality.

Now symbolic ceremonies are taking place in the Fuso Szulc to chase out the evil spirits that came to it this Spring to have the center where life evolves pure and natural as it used to be.

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Pools and blood

2010-10-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

One of the great things of traveling is that each day there are new experiences.
That are educational, fascinating and sometimes shocking.

Like yesterday, having brunch with dear friends in a golf club, they explained that there are swimming pools, eternal pools and endless pools.
A swimming pool is just a basin to swim in.
Usually a rectangular stonewalled hole in the ground.

Eternal pools are made in a hillside.
The pool is level with the ground surface and the water can go out of the pool to be pumped back into it.
Swimming in this pool is being on one side at eye level with the world around it.
One doesn’t look at the wall of the pool but while swimming sees the surrounding landscape.

And then we have the endless pool.
This is also a rectangular pool but not much bigger than the body of a human being.
The water in this pool is pumped at very high pressure once a swimmer has pushed a button in the pool.
It means the person in the pool must start swimming not to be crashed against the wall.
Because of the circulating water the swimmer remains in one place.

Very educational information!

Anther fascinating fact was explained by another friend last night.
At a high school there was a homecoming ball.
What that exactly is was not very much understood but in any case, the students dress up and come to the school to have a dance.
These days, in this particular Californian town, the students must sign a contract when they enter the hall for the dance.
In this contract they promise not to perform any “dirty dancing” on the dance floor.
Among other promises.
Makes one think.

And lastly, a shocking experience.
Very focused loyal and fervent blog readers will remember a story published right here some time ago about a couple in California, USA, that had an imitation castle where they lived and had paying guests.
The story was how dinner and hospitality was enjoyed in that castle one day.

The persons owning this castle are friends of friends.
Therefore last night the friends were asked how the castle owners were doing.
A long silence resulted.
Obviously the story was hard to tell.
But eventually the truth was told.
The castle owners were financially not successful.
They developed a huge debt with the bank.
In order to turn things around they moved out of the imitation castle and leased it to another couple.
Hoping they would manage to make a profit.
But also those people couldn’t turn the imitation castle into a money making machine.
They missed more and more the monthly payments to the owners who got therefore even deeper into trouble.
Then one day something snapped in the head of the male imitation castle owner.
He went to his property where he found the leasing woman alone at home.
She was tied to a chair and beaten up and then they waited for her husband to come home.
When he came, he was shot to death by the imitation castle owner.
Who is now in jail waiting for his sentence.
Which will be life and maybe the death penalty.

It is very strange to have known and have dined several times with a man that turns out to be a killer.
To have been in an imitation castle that turns out to have been the scene of a dramatic murdering scene.

Today the border will be crossed.
Mexico is waiting.

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A travel warning

2010-10-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the United States has issued a travel alert for Americans planning a trip to Europe.
The US government has warned its citizens in an official travel advisory to be vigilant traveling in Europe, amid fears of an al-Qaeda commando-style attack.
The state department advised Americans to take care while in tourist areas.
The department did not specify a country, issuing the updated guidance for the whole of Europe.
Security sources have warned of an al-Qaeda plan to send teams of gunmen to crowded places to kill civilians.
Such a travel advisory results in probably thousands of American citizens to cancel their trip to Europe.
That means a lot of hotels in Europe will have fewer guests and less souvenirs are sold.

But right here on this blog today, the pioneering photographer is issuing a travel alert for all Europeans who plan a trip to the United States.
In an official travel advisory, Europeans are requested to be vigilant traveling in the United States, amid fears of al-Qaeda commando-style attacks planned by persons in the service industry.
The responsible department of the pioneering photographer did not specify a particular city or state, issuing the updated guidance for the whole of the United States.
Security sources close to the pioneering photographer have warned of an al-Qaeda plan to send teams of waitresses to crowded places to seduce civilians.

This is something that has been personally experienced in the past.
It happened on the first trip to the United States in a small town near Albuquerque in New Mexico in the United States in 1979.
A nice vegetarian restaurant was found to have lunch.
As we all know, there are beautiful women in this world but this waitress in the small vegetarian restaurant near Albuquerque was so extraordinarily beautiful, that the food had a hard time to be swallowed.
The only thing possible was to stare in awe and amazement at this extraordinary creature.
And then she was nice too.
Chatting a little with the impressed guest.
She sweetly and kindly inquiring about how the food was tasting.
Even asking if she could be any help.
If more water was needed.
Saying her name was Madelon and that she could be called anytime.
Anytime!
And then eventually bringing the cheque wishing warmly a good day.
On the cheque she had elegantly written her name: Madelon.
And a smiley!
This was all so impressing and flabbergasting.
Such a nice and sweet girl.
And so personal!
It was in a haze the restaurant was left and as of that lunch in the small town near Albuquerque life was never the same anymore.
The girl was on the mind but constantly, fervent and loyal blog readers, and permanently.
Life suddenly spinning exclusively around her and her beauty and her radiation and her warmth and friendliness and charm.
Therefore it was decided not to continue the pilgrimage.
But to stay in in the small town near Albuquerque to be able to have lunch in that vegetarian restaurant again the next day.
To see and experience the wonderful girl once more and maybe, maybe get her to know better and, dream, dream, fantasy, fantasy, maybe even get a date out of her.

And indeed, full of excitement the small vegetarian restaurant near Albuquerque was visited once more the next day and for sure the girl was there serving again.
She was even more beautiful than the day before wearing now a long white dress and she had put a red flower in her hair.
In her eyes a glimmering was noticed when reunited and it was even warmer and nicer than the day before.
She was such an angel.
How she floated from table to kitchen to table in the restaurant and having a smile and a warm word for every hungry customer coming to eat.
For sure it was decided she was from heaven and that she should come along.

Therefore, after having come slightly back to the own senses returned in the camper, a letter was written to Madelon.
The address was on the cheque for the lunch and the letter was a testimony to her beauty, her aura, her sweetness, her kindness, her lovingness, her uniqueness and her charm.

The pilgrimage had to be continued to the next location to make pictures, but every few days the gallery in New York was called to ask if a letter had arrived from a small town near Albuquerque.
From a person called Madelon.
To possibly rush back to land in her arms.

Until today no reply has been received from Madelon.
It seems Madelon is a very busy lady and hasn’t found the time yet to sit down and write a sweet letter to her admirer.

As a matter of fact, the hope to receive a letter from Madelon evaporated with every new visit to a restaurant in the United States.
First of all, it was observed that there are many beautiful waitresses working in American restaurants.
And most of them are extraordinarily friendly.
Even seductive.
An innocent man, or a European, easily will believe, based on the attitude of the American waitress, that he is very, very attractive and that openings for more between them are presented together with the food.
Once though that it is found out that waiters and waitresses are paid a very low salary and that their real income are the tips they get, one understands that the true reason for the friendliness is to boost the tip.
Therefore this travel warning.
The waitress is friendly but it is nothing personal.
Like the bullet from al-Qaeda.

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Baby poops in shower

2010-10-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of the day is to drive at around 10 in the morning down from the hill to the first shopping mall of Temecula, California, USA where is a Starbucks Café.
There, a small Café Latte is ordered as well as a chocolate chip cookie.
They happen to have there the New York Times as well: for a hefty price though.

With the cookie, the coffee and the newspaper a table is taken outside to read in the very pleasant Californian weather what is going on in the world, and because it is the New York Times, most particularly in the United States, more precisely in New York City.

It is a very well written newspaper and beautiful even as an object.
With strong black and white photography and noble typography.

It takes many hours to read this newspaper from A to Z so it lasts a few days.

Yesterday they had a remarkable story about an environmentalist in the Home & Garden section of the New York Times.
This environmentalist by the name of Josh Dorfman, is married to a lady that used to work as a stuntwoman: Stephanie Holzman.
Her latest stunt is that they have a baby now.

They live in a situation that they want to be as much as possible in balance with nature.
So, for example, all their furniture is made from recycled wood.
The stairway from reclaimed barn wood.
All the food they eat is organic.
They only use natural cleaning products.
All their personal-care products are organic as well as their clothes.
And then the man publishes books about how to live in balance with nature and his personal experiences.
Like “The lazy environmentalist: Your guide to Easy, Stylish, Green living”.

This couple claims it is going very well with living in balance with nature.
Their CO2 output is minimal.
Except for one thing.
Disposable diapers.
They came to realize that the diapers they buy for their baby son, Pampers, are highly polluting and very environmentally unfriendly.
Diapers are partly made from plastic derived from petroleum.
Too many trees need to be knocked down to supply our newborns with sanitizing protection.
And the gigantic mountain of used diapers is higher than the Mount Everest.

They have been trying other methods of diapers.
Like cotton cloths that are washed after baby has left presents in there.
But they claim this doesn’t work at all.
Maybe it does, but probably washing these cotton cloths is too much trouble?

However, clever as they are, they have developed an effective method to save the planet.
And came up with a system they call “Elimination Communication”
This system implies that they have been studying and learning when their baby is about to pee or poop.
When they see the first signs, they pick him up, rush him to the bathroom and put him in the shower.
There he can pee and poop as much as he likes after which they spray water over him and wash the deposits down the drain.
Voila.
The boy is a diaper-less baby and trees grow happily because of this.

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To learn more about saving the planet by avoiding Pampers, click on
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/garden/30guilt.html

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Nostalgic cinema

2010-10-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Recently two classic movies were seen.
Steven Spielberg’s 1982 “E.T.”

and last night, Tobe Hooper’s 1982 “Poltergeist”.

These movies have been seen before but at intervals of several years.
Therefore, each time when watched they are initiating different feelings and responses.
The own position in life has changed and more experience has been accumulated.
Plus that modern movies have become more sophisticated that puts the special effects of the older movies in a whole new perspective.
Used to the current digital trickery, films like “E.T.” and “Poltergeist” have become monuments of simplicity.
That has its own charm.
You can see that the aliens in “E.T.” and the death bodies in “Poltergeist” have been made in the prop department with paper mache.
They were real and moving because a guy behind a curtain was pulling some strings.
While today’s actors are in front of empty blue screens on which the computer later fills in monsters and fairy queens.

It is good therefore to enjoy primitivity once in a while and see how in another century people were entertained.
Realizing that at the time “E.T.” and “Poltergeist” were stunning and sophisticated movies.

Nowadays, they remain entertaining as they are also inspiring complete new ways of thinking about the film.
For example, it was never realized that this space ship with which E.T. came to Earth, landed right next to Los Angeles and Hollywood.
The same for “Poltergeist”: the story of a dishonest project developer who moved away only the tombs of a cemetery to build houses right on top of the corpses did not happen in Zürich, Switzerland or Timbuktu in Africa.
It happened in Californian suburbia.
Why are that kind of things actually happening precisely in one country only?

Another observation of E.T. is the music by John Williams.
The film starts and the first twenty minutes not one word is said.
The audience only hears the music of John Williams and it is the strongest part of the film.
Once the actors and actresses start talking, we get into another league.
Like the children asking mother something about their father.
This makes the mother turn away, overcome as she is by emotion.
Why?
Father is with another woman on an island in the Caribbean.

The mother of the children in “Poltergeist” has also a surprising side.
She is smoking pot.
And this on her bed in the bedroom in the presence of her half naked husband.
While she talks he reads a book.

No wonder these films remain fascinating.
Always something new is discovered.
And the old becomes more and more charming.

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