unmoved

being outside of italy, it's hard to realise things only by reading the news online. especially when the only voices who are moved by several things happening these days, endangering more than usual our republic, are those of a few friends of mine, and of foreign press. right. last time i felt like that was this summer, when i found the most interesting comment about the ridiculous ending of the genoa 2001 trials on the guardian. this time it's not even the guardian, it's just bbc news. and what they write it's just so true. i just had a similar discussion with german friends yesterday and could not provide any answer to explain how we do things back there... and this feeling of shame and impotence gets stronger...

"Imagine the same in other countries, where the leader of the government was implicated in a massive bribery scam. You wouldn't be able to move outside the court for microphones and camera lenses.
But not in Italy.
Here, there is a quiet resignation among ordinary Italians that sailing close to the legal wind has become a trademark of their leader and the odd squall just shows he's human. It adds to his flamboyant appeal.
It seems that as long as he doesn't steer the great ship Italy towards the rocks, then Italians are prepared to forgive Mr Berlusconi."

the full article can be found here:
Italy unmoved by Berlusconi bribe case

the last comment makes me think... i used to believe that when things go really bad, and for a long while, then usually people start using their brains and stop accepting crap. but maybe it's the age, i don't know... just i think i'm not that optimistic anymore. not even if the great ship italy, or the remains of it, crashes towards the rocks...

Darwin Day: happy birthday Evolution!

"I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars."

Charles Darwin, Letter to Asa Gray, 1860

today, 200 years ago, Darwin was born, and 50 years later he wrote The origin of species and evolution was born. celebrate evolution against the scary threats of anti-science, creationism and whatever else, which are spreading by the day!
for more info www.darwinday.org

it ain't easy living as a parasite

almost forgot to post this:


it's by a totally sweet, (not only) klezmer band which i just discovered and saw live, nearly at the same time: daniel kahn & the painted bird. their last cd is called partisans and parasites, which reminded me (ok i know it's got nothing to do with it, but still) of the title that i gave to my container photos in the exhibit a while ago... good parasites, parasite goods... made me smile. actually, the whole show made me laugh a real lot, they're pretty good, and also made me want to go to berlin so badly, live there for a while. why berlin? well, they're american but they're living in berlin. which does not explain much. don't know, guess it was just an irrational thought. guess it's got something to do with the whole me in my head business. whatever. if you're ever in berlin tomorrow or on friday, go see them. trust me.

randomicity

it's snowing again. just saw it outside the window. i recently developed an aversion to snow, but still, seeing the flakes coming down in the street lamp light, it was kind of pretty. sweet. whatever. guess i'm still in a sentimental mood after the silly romantic comedy i just watched with my roommate. but we both reckoned it was not the silliness nor the romance that put us in such a mood. it was clearly jude law. well, sorry for this kind of appreciation, but still, we're girls, it's kind of allowed... and also, he's soo british, everybody knows i've got a freaking thing for british accent - what the hell am i doing here, btw?! realising only now i'm writing absolutely random stuff. guess i'm just confused. sort of. i've been writing my thesis - finally! - these past few weeks and didn't think much about, well, whatever... didn't have good old paranoid thoughts as i used to last year. hardly had any thoughts at all. but today was a totally pointless day, and now i can't stop thinking about the me in my head, and what she would do, and why i'm not doing so. the me in my head... well, whatever.

next time

"... Maybe it's just because there was no sun, and what entered from the big windows was a shitty day's gray. Maybe it's Tom Waits's fault. However, I ran away from the Sistine Chapel with two simple ideas in my mind. First: next time I go there I go at eight a.m., because that crowd is horrifying. Second: next time I am born an atheist, I'm going to do it in a country where those who believe in a God believe in a happy God."

from A. Baricco, The Sistine chapel, listening to Tom Waits - Barnum