What hands tell

I noticed many years ago that persons that are portrayed often put their hands in a position suggesting coitus.

When still living in the Netherlands I had a growing collection of images showing how manifest this was.

This weekend the Dutch Volkskrant Magazine published a fabulous image of photographer Julius Schrank of Dutch comedian Paulien Cornelisse who was revealing she had a boyfriend.

Look at her hands.

Look at his hands.

Embedded in embedding.

The first 15 years of my career as a photographer besides doing photo projects I made conceptual photography. Sequences. A visual research of perception and phenomenology.

It was fascinating to make sequences because I could discover that nothing is what we think it is. Reality is not something outside us at which we are looking: reality is created by ourselves. It is the personal perception that decides what we think we see.

This is a knowledge many people do not want to know. Because it means we live in a context that is not stable and secure and that is too hard to handle. Hence, many people create a pseudo-reality that is strongly constructed outside themselves. A reality that is fixed and final.

Fortunately too many things happen in the life of every person that is unexplainable. “A miracle has happened”, they say. Or “What a coincidence”. But what actually happened is that they moved from a pseudo reality into the real one.

A good example how we create our own reality is the phenomenon that if we for some reason focus on one particular thing, we start to see this thing frequently.

A man dies and his wife is very sad and misses him badly. Walking in town she gets the shock of her life: she sees in the crowd walking her own deceased man.

Obviously this is projection coming from strong emotions but it decides how reality is for this woman.

Or we believe that these days pink sweaters are in fashion. This is then confirmed by seeing suddenly many people wearing pink sweaters.

Obviously we see pink sweaters because we unconsciously focus on pink sweaters and only register those in our awareness: the many red sweaters are not entering the awareness.

This whole issue of the subjectivity of reality is now related to my project “What the world has never seen”. This project is about intimacy and privacy and obviously in our societies these subjects repeatedly get the attention.

See www.whattheworldhasneverseen.com

The question is whether “What the world has never seen” really is a pioneering project that anticipated on the growing importance of the endangerment of our intimacy and privacy.

Or do we see issues with intimacy and privacy because of “What the world has never seen” ?

The answer is clear. Never before in the history of mankind did we have social media on a scale as we see today. And never before did we see interferences in our private lives on a scale as we see today.

These new aspects of our lives is of concern to everybody. Everybody using social media, making a phone call and sending an e-mail is confronted with possible secret interference. Every one of us has to deal with degrading social values.

The book “1984” published in 1949 by George Orwell has long been seen as a weird fantasy impossible ever to become reality. But today what he described has become true. It has become a part of reality that exists in everybody’s life: no matter how you perceive it.

“What the world has never seen” is not a tunnel vision. Seeing what wants to be seen. In the 30’s of the last century certain people in Germany felt things would go wrong and they left. Emigrated. They were reading the signs of the time and were able to make a prediction that was correct. Seeing a reality coming that later became so fatal.

This is also the case with “What the world has never seen”. It saw two years ago what was coming. When “Prism”, the American system to monitor phone and e-mail traffic of each of us, still was unimaginable.

“What the world has never seen” is now embedded in a reality it has been and is warning for.

And it says that the only solution of not becoming victim of threatened intimacy and endangered privacy is to be highly conscious of the current reality. To make form this higher awareness choices that results in becoming invulnerable for the current dangers.

This is our only hope and the more people make these choices, the more chance we have for a better world. 

You are slowly dementing

In our lives over the last 20 years many new electronic products have successfully been introduced. We have embraced them and integrated them in our daily lives. But we never seriously contemplated the side effects and long term consequences.

Now that we have life very much dominated by these electronic products, we have strong reasons not to want to know what are those side effects and consequences. Because if we did truly realize them, we would have to give up to use a cell phone, play computer games, use Facebook, etc.

Frequent television viewing, hours spent at playing computer and violent video games, making incessant phone calls and SMS-texting, the reckless dissemination of personal feelings, thoughts and photos on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have a negative impact on feelings, thoughts, behavior and social contacts of children and adolescents.

Reputed media scientists and responsible educators, juvenile judges and sorely tried parents of internet-addicted teenagers have been drawing people’s attention to the adverse effects of excessive media use for two decades now.

And now we have Manfred Spitzer.

He is a neuroscientist and medical director of the Psychiatric University Hospital in Ulm, Germany.

Professor Spitzer has collected the scientific evidence on the subject of the consequences of having technological inventions deeply integrated in our lives and his conclusion is: it all drives us and our children mad.

In his book “Digital Dementia” Professor Spitzer explains in a scientific and detailed way how he comes to this conclusion.

What is shocking about “Digital dementia” is that it is not a nutty professor claiming this: Professor Spitzer has collected all the information now available and anybody learning this will have to come to the same conclusion.

We drive ourselves mad and allow the same thing to happen to our kids.

This the world has never seen. But in the end we are all individuals. Every electronic device can be switched on. And can be turned off. It’s all up to you.

Distrusting doctors

Imagine you become sick. What it is we will disclose: that is your private bussiness, true? You go to a hospital and you meet a doctor. He asks what is the problem and wants to know every detail. In order to be able to decide on a diagnosis and consequently a treatment. He writes down those details you revealed. Maybe in a hesitant way, as it can be embarassing, but, hey, it is a doctor and he is bound to secrecy and the oath of Socrates, isn’t he?

Well, we have created a society where we cannot count on secure intimacy and privacy anymore. Not even from a doctor.

The doctor makes a file on you in his computer and this file is stored on the server of the hospital.

The agreement is that only those who treat you, have access to your delicate medical information you were so confident to reveal.

In the Netherlands is a special office called the CBP (College Bescherming Persoonsgegevens): it is a neutral institution safeguarding and checking the privacy of the Dutch citizens.

This CBP went to nine hospitals to check how safe personal data of the patients was.

In not one hospital it was safe. Not one hospital had a security system making their data base safe from illegal visitors.

The CBP found examples of a woman who worked in the hospital who checked in the hospital data base what was the reason her neighbor was ill. Or a student checking the data base for the health situation of her fellow students.

An intriguing result of the CBP was also that they found that the hospitals are actually able to protect data of their patients. The adequately protected data is of patients who are on the Board of the hospital or who are VIP’s.

CBP concludes that if the 9 hospitals are failing in protecting the privacy and intimacy of their customers, all hospitals in the Netherlands will have a similar failing system.

It is this kind of news that should be shocking because it undermines confidence. Many people believe in the integrity of doctors and now they must conclude that this beautiful opinion has to be reversed.

Instead a doctor must be distrust or you must not mind basically anybody might know of your illness. 

Intimacy and privacy intruded by the NSA

An art-project like “What the world has never seen” is much more than only an expression of artistic abilities. Although nowadays form is the only thing curators focus on when making selections for exhibitions and purchases for collections, with “What the world has never seen” we find a combination of form ànd content.

It is not only about the style of the “What the world has never seen”-pictures, but also about what these images tell us.

For two years now “What the world has never seen” creates artistic value but at the same time is linked to what threatens our privacy and intimacy. All the people who during the last two years could not be waken up by this important message of “What the world has never seen”, got a shock when recently the PRISM-program of the American NSA was revealed. On a large scale persons outside the USA have been illegally tapped and monitored by the American  NSA. These persons were robbed of their privacy and intimacy and this was not done by an enemy, but by a country that propagates democracy, liberty, civil rights and pretends to be an ally and friend.

In Europe we have the Euro-commissioner Viviane Reding responsible for Justice. She has now the opinion that personal data of the Europeans must be legally protected as soon as possible.

Mrs. Reding considers this protection a fundamental right. That is very beautiful but how come for years the Americans could sniff at Europeans, even checking what they were doing with their bank-accounts?

This recent revelation of PRISM proves how relevant “What the world has never seen” is. It turns out that Viviane Reding knew about PRISM and that she has been discussing this subject with American authorities in the past. Only after Edward Snowden, the whistleblower on PRISM, revealed publicly the amazing facts of the illegal activities of the American Government, only then did Reding publicly oppose and condemn these activities.

Because Viviane Reding is concerned about public opinion. An outrage by Europeans is damaging to her position and career. Therefore, the more people are aware, conscious, know the facts, respect, protect and defend their rights, their privacy, their intimacy, will politicians do what is good for our lives.

See: www.whattheworldhasneverseen.com

And: www.whattheworldhasneverseen.wordpress.com

The drowned mouse

Alfredo felt embarrassed. He was feeling proud he had invented a successful mouse trap. And he was pleased to get the attention. His long time friend Miguel showing interest and even making pictures of his genial trap. But then no mice walked the tightrope to try to reach the banana luring in the centre of the bucket half filled with water.

So, yesterday Alfredo changed strategy. He filled TWO buckets with water and equipped them as a trap.This time not with banana, but with a piece of cheese. Placed them around his rancho house.

And indeed, this morning proudly he announced that in one of the buckets a dead mouse could be found.

The eager mouse. It was lured by the cheese to step on the tightrope, to lose balance, fall down into the water and not finding any stairs to climb out of the pool. The death of the mouse must have been terrible. Having left the family behind in the mouse house nearby, finding a delicious piece of cheese, only thing to do to carefully walk the tightrope and now finding oneself in a water pool with no safe exit. Swimming around in circles. Around and around slowly losing more and more energy and hope to survive this debacle. Sheer out of lack of physical energy, and maybe because all hope consumed, the mouse had to give up, got water in the lungs, couldn’t breath anymore and that was the dramatic and horrible end of its life. 

Alfredo proved his point. But it is not a happy point. For the mouse.

The failed Mexican murderer of mice

I could see it from his face this morning. Alfredo was standing in front of his rancho not looking as a winner. His sophisticated and clever mouse trap had not been successful. Not one mouse had been walking the tight rope to reach the delicious banana but to lose balance, fall into the water to have the last bath in the life.

According to Alfredo the reason why no mice are floating in the square bucket is that last night no mice came to visit his rancho. That might very well be, and Alfredo has a strong argument to plea for this supposition because the square bucket contains only water, but then we heard everywhere there was a plague of mice of biblical proportions in Baja California. And last night around the Fuso Szulc expedition vehicle parked not too far from Alfredo’s rancho, conventional mouse traps called “Victor” had been able to send two mice to heaven.

So, we may ask, what is going on here? Is Alfredo a genius or Napoleon?

Let’s give him one more chance: OK?

Tomorrow morning we return to see if mice read this blog or not. For the moment, keep yourself on stand-by. A new report will follow in this saga.

The Mexican mass-murderer of mice

It has never seen before here in Baja California, Mexico. But in the southern part there is a plague of mice. Somehow these animals have multiplied in numbers never witnessed before. It is so bad that on warm nights when people are used to sleep outside, this is made impossible because mice crawl all over the innocent sleeper.

Alfredo Gonzales from Rancho Punta Boca del Salado has been thinking about it. And came up with an idea to get rid of the many mice invading his place. He has filled a square bucket with water. He took a thick wire and slid a piece of banana to the centre of it. This wire he mounted in two holes on either side of the bucket. The bucket he placed next to a wall where he knows many mice make nightly walks.

His theory is that the mice smell the banana. They probably see it even with their night vision eyes. They will decide to reach the banana walking like a performer on a tightrope. But, according to Alfredo, they will lose their balance, fall into the water and drown.

In this way he believes he will eliminate the number of mice in his area seriously.

In a next blog we will report how successful Alfredo has been.

In the Bible we find the story of the seven plagues. And we read how the people of Israel suffered. But from what we witness here at the rancho of Alfredo and him experiencing a plague is inventiveness. Creativity, clear thinking, cleverness.

One of the plagues in Egypt were locusts. If we believe the Bible it was terrible. But does this mean there has not been one man like Alfredo in those days? Someone who discovered that a locust is actually an animal full of proteins. That it can be caught with nets, grilled, roasted and served as healthy, rich and delicious food?

Shoot the rabbit, not your neighbour

Dominating on the Internet worldwide is Google. Anyone using the Internet hardly can avoid notto use one or more services of Google. In this they are very successful. Many of the services Google offers are very handy and convenient and billions of people make use of them. And that pays off. Says Google CEO Larry Page: “Revenues were up 36 percent year-on-year, and 8 percent quarter-on-quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year”.

 That is all very fine, but Google is like a company selling rifles of which they say to shoot rabbits only and not people. Because recently, May 25, 2013, at the Hay Festival Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt has said: 

 “Teenagers can no longer grow up without being reminded of their mistakes because a full record of their lives is now stored on the internet.  There are situations in life that it’s better that they don’t exist. Especially if there is stuff you did when you were a teenager. Teenagers are now in an adult world online. Society has always had ways of dealing with errant teenagers by a process of punishment and then allowing them to grow up away from their mistakes. They grow up out of it and become fine, upstanding leaders, but the current generation of teenagers could now be haunted by their youthful mistakes. Some people’s sharing of personal information online has gone too far. They take things to overwhelmingly excessive levels”.

Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt talked yesterday in fact about intimacy. How this is degenerating, losing more and more its quality. 

It is encouraging that the message “What the world has never seen” is manifesting for over 2 years is now echoed by this important business leader. However, he also said Google is not going to do much about it: “We do not plan to censor unsavoury or offensive videos or messages on the internet”.

That is understandable and we applaud that their executive chairman at least expresses publicly a concern we share wholeheartedly.

Are we upgrading or downgrading?

Many people will have heard about “Les Misérables”. A very successful musical. This musical is based on a book with the same title written by the frenchman Victor Hugo in 1862.

It is an extraordinary book: the paperback version has 1463 pages. And what Victor Hugo has written on all those pages is more than extraordinary. Basically the whole book is about morality. As Victor Hugo calls it: the reasons of conscience. A good example is that in the last chapters, two of the several protagonists in the book, Marius and Cosette, marry and although Victor Hugo describes everything in detail and at length, he will not go as far as explain what happened during their wedding-night. He writes:

“The bride and groom disappeared. Here we stop. On the threshold of wedding nights stands an angle smiling, a finger to his lips.”

Recently, many people worldwide were reading a contemporary book titled “Fifty shades of grey” written by E.L. James. It is the best-selling book of all times in the U.K. with over 5,3 million copies sold. It is a most silly story of appalling writing and the reason why it is a success is the openness about which E.L. James writes about sexual activities by the two protagonists, often involving light forms of sadomasochism.

These two books compared: “Les Misérables” and “Fifty shades of grey”, one written in 1862 and the other written in 2010, explain a lot how intimacy has changed in the awareness and perception of many people. Victor Hugo saw a smiling angle on the threshold of wedding nights and stays outside not telling us anything. Some things of us should not be talked about, he implies. While for E.L. James there are no more thresholds and she describes endlessly scenes like how a weirdo guy roughs up a naked girl. James believes everything of us can be talked about.

What does this all tell us? One thing for sure: morality has changed. The reasons of our conscience have been replaced.

The question is: are we better off now?

Blog coming alive again!!!

It is 2 years and 20 days since I last posted on this blog.

And there is a high chance it will be activated again. With frequently exciting stories published as many readers were enjoying here before.

The reason for writing stories again and publishing them on this blog is this:

The famous Mtisubishi Fuso Szulc is for sale and is replaced with a Bremach equipped with a Bimobil camper.

With this Bremach a life will start once more of constantly traveling in an expedition vehicle. First in Europe. Later in Canada, the USA and Mexico.

Keep therefore your eye on this blog!

New blog !!!

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

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

No more

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Announcement

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

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

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

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

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

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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