|
Home
some links
Bode
Araki
Murakami
Dadara
Shiota
Klein
Koons
PopCultMag
Comiclopedia
SuperFutureCity
Balloontales
Homestarrunner
Humo
I like mail!
|
 |
donderdag 2 september 2004 |
Sleeping... If this blog falls silent again, it's not because I'm willfully not blogging. It's because I'm moving to Dublin tomorrow. I'm not dead, I'm sleeping. 
4:28:56 PM 
|
|
|
zondag 29 augustus 2004 |
Nearsighted Sometimes I think that there are only two kinds of people - those who think in the short term and those who think in the long term. This has always been the big difference in the image of American and European oil companies. European oil companies (BP, Shell) seem much more concerned with working towards alternative energy sources, or at least appearing that way, than American oil companies - who seem more concerned with just getting oil out of the ground. The same seems to be happening in the (related) car industry and again it's the American companies that are the unimaginative short term thinkers. Does this reflect the general mood in the country? Is this a trend? An indication of something bigger? I guess we'll see in november...
6:09:32 PM
|
|
|
zaterdag 28 augustus 2004 |
Wardrobe malfunction 
A while ago a woman stood in front of me in the supermarket wearing a burqa. It was one of those letterbox ones - all you could see were her eyes. They were beautiful eyes. Incredibly beautiful eyes. They had some black, Cleopatralike embellishment, but certainly didn't need any. She was tall, slim with elegant hands (long fingers). Even the burqa itself was beautiful, a slightly shiny black fabric. When she moved it flowed around her - accentuating her stylish walk. In my country we have a saying: the clothes make the man. It's not true. Some people can get away with wearing a garbage bag. This is the fundamentalist's fallacy. Beauty cannot be bound by a burqa.
6:49:42 PM
|
|
|
maandag 23 augustus 2004 |
My new project: the NOLF 2 Addon
In the gaming world the idea of open source is very normal. That is, up to a certain level. Part of the appeal of a game like Unreal Tournament are the hundreds of custom maps made by the players. The makers simply make available the tools with which they made the game and the players do the rest. This also means that you could make something like the game itself - the single player part. This is what I'm going to do for No One Lives Forever 2. I say I, I mean we. It's a collaborative project, because I want it to be as big as possible. In fact, if it was possible I'd make it as big as the original game. But that would probably be too much. What we're aiming for is a mission pack with enough chapters to make the player feel (s)he has really accomplished something when it's all done. Right now we're developing the storyline, trying to come up with interesting missions and original ideas for situations the players will have to solve. This is a part where everyone, even people who don't know how to use the toolset can take part. So if you're interested, feel free to visit our website or forums and help us make something great.
5:47:03 PM
|
|
|
zondag 22 augustus 2004 |
Not to blog I was going to write something about not blogging. How good it is not to blog and all that. But that would be blogging about blogging, which is even worse than blogging. So instead:
Fun with the Taliban
"I think I saw your wife yesterday. But it could have been someone else completely."
(thank you Kamagurka)
5:23:48 PM
|
|
|
vrijdag 9 juli 2004 |
Choice
Every now and then you hear about the theory of how, whenever we make a choice, a separate universe splits off in which we made the other choice. And that, because of that, there is an infinite number of universes where everything that’s possible has actually happened. But what is a choice? If, when walking down a street, we pass a side street, is it a choice when we don’t go in there? Is it a choice when we don’t go up to every house we pass and ring the doorbell? Isn’t every step we make a choice? After all, we could stop. I could have written something completely different just then. Was that a choice? I think, before people come up with silly theories like that they should consider these kinds of things first. But then, that wouldn’t be as much fun.
8:44:15 PM
|
|
|
donderdag 8 juli 2004 |
Oil is not a problem 
Or at least, it shouldn’t be. In discussions about Iraq oil is often mentioned – though I personally think it’s only one of many factors that drove people to actually do this. For some reason, people think it’s very important to keep the price of oil down. But the more I think about it, the only reason this is important is the mindset of the American voters. In other ways, the effects of a rise in prices could very well be positive for everybody. People would become more inclined to buy fuel efficient cars – which would stimulate continued development of that technology, in the end making the supplies of oil last longer. It might harm the American economy, but considering the fact that the US is the richest country in the world already, a slightly smaller lead would not be such a big deal. The US government would make more money (taxes being a percentage of the price, after all), which would compensate at least part of the fall in economic growth. Of course, there are also many products made from oil (plastics) – would it be bad if they became more expensive? Considering their environmental impact and the fact that, here too, we’d have to look to other materials in the near future, it might not be such a bad thing. I haven’t deeply researched this, but really – would it be so bad?
3:16:35 PM
|
|
|
maandag 5 juli 2004 |
|
maandag 28 juni 2004 |
Out of place Today I was at Parkpop and one of the things I like to do at festivals is check out the t-shirts (today’s winner: ‘I’m not a complete idiot – several parts are missing’). I also saw a t-shirt for Combat 18. For those who do not want to click that link: the 1 and 8 stand for the letters of the alphabet that form the initials of Adolf Hitler – it’s a neo-nazi group. And Parkpop is probably the strangest place to see it. Parkpop is a big, family festival with music ranging from arty theatre pop to trashy punkrock, to reggae, to triprock. Many people don’t even come for the music but just for lying in the grass and checking out the stalls with merchandise. On a lazy sunny day on a big fun festival you just don’t expect something like that. I saw him when I came in – he was leaving. Maybe he’d noticed he didn’t fit in there too. Good. Now stay out.
12:04:58 AM
|
|
|
woensdag 16 juni 2004 |
Horsehetero
)
Man, that was bad. The guy has years to come up with a team and when he does it's the most illogic, almost random combination of players possible. We had a midfield with three leftfooted players and as a result the team tilted completely to the left. And the most prominent player there was Boudewijn Zenden. Very much the wrong player in the wrong place at the wrong time. People sometimes say that when a coach can improve the game by making some substitutions, he's a good coach. No. It just means he did it wrong to begin with. Even Johan Cruijff (doing analysis for the NOS) didn't know where to start improving things. Three substitutions woulddn't be near enough to get things done. Fortunately we have a certain Ruud van Nistelrooij up front who saved the day with a nearly impossible goal. But today the coach was so bad, he inspired a new swearword: horsehetero.
12:29:26 AM
|
|
|
maandag 14 juni 2004 |
Zizou
Every time I see Zinedine Zidane (best name ever) I think he’s too old, he’s over the hill. But yesterday he proved once again he is one of the greatest ever. This was best illustrated by that other great player on the field - David Beckham. Beckham is supposed to be the team captain, but he plays from the flank – from where it’s hard to dictate the game. He failed at some decisive moments – the penalty and, to a lesser extent, his specialty the free kick. But, most of all, he’s simply not the great Beckham of a few years ago. This was partially to be expected. He has had a bad season at Real Madrid and had some personal problems. But we know all about that - because Beckham is a star. Zidane isn’t. His fame is more limited to the world of football. And, there, he is rising above the level of ‘star’. He’s starting to become a legend. You can see the difference simply by looking at them. Beckham is a brat, and a spoiled one at that. Zidane is a man. He’s big. He’s got lots of presence. He’s got some beautiful moves. He delivers. And he has even taken the next step. You could see it in the free kick he took. The position was perfect for a left-footed shot in the near corner. But that’s what they expected him to do. He did it with his right foot in the far corner. It was a crucial moment, yet he still did the unorthodox thing. There are many great players, great technical players, with a great shot, tactical insight or leadership. But this kind of intelligence and daring is extremely rare. I can only think of one other player who had it; Johan Cruijff. And when a Dutchman compares you to Cruijff, you must be good.
5:14:44 PM
|
|
|
vrijdag 11 juni 2004 |
The right place for patriotism
I live in a country that is not really a country. We are no longer just The Kingdom Of The Netherlands And Oversees Territories. We are all Europeans. Yet, we still feel Dutch first. We have never been the kind of people that wave their flags in other people’s faces all the time. The idea that a flag should never touch the ground sounds ridiculous to us. So where do these feelings find their outlet? On the football field. Of course there are other occasions (like Queens Day) and sports, but football trumps all that. It’s not just the biggest sport. It’s something that transcends all classes, all ages, anything. And now there’s a European Championship coming up. And the first match will be against Germany (we have a bit of a history with them). And it will be all good. Dutch (national team) fans are not known for hooliganism. They’re known for looking completely ridiculous. And at home it will be visible too. Whole neighbourhoods will be decorated orange. And when they get kicked out – probably somewhere in the quarter finals – everything will return to normal. Like nothing ever happened.
6:55:40 PM
|
|
© Copyright
2004
Harald
.
|
