The Scent Of A Human: Eau De Schwinn?

The Gray Lady wonders this morning if New York can truly (re)vert — or reinvent — itself into Neue Amsterdam via bikes. Her focus du jour is the Dutch “It” bicycle , and the question is that of how to look delicious(ly continental) while doing so.

It suggests looking like the guy pictured here… in which case I heartily approve.

However, trembling under those textiles is the unSPOKEn (10 point pun, don’t you agree?)dialogue in this aestheticised vision of a psuedoeuropean paean to fashion a la bicyclette: that is, that bicycling leaves one… shall we say… moist?

The “>LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) — the official granter of “green” status to all things architecture and design — award points to both commercial and residential with bicycle parking facilities. So too does its pragmatism include SHOWERS in these aforementioned parking facilities, so as to allow one’s workers to… freshen up… before a day in the office.

But few of our offices have such amenities, and not everyone is going to stop at the gym before work. Besides, let’s be honest — many who bike do so for both environmental as well as financial reasons, not to mention to forego the sterile hamsterwheel-meets-club-con-meatmarket environment of many such facilities.

Which leaves us — even if we are riding lovely $1000 bikes and are nattily dressed — a little, well, RIPE. Remember all the things one hears about Europeans? In addition to fashion and food, there is also: unshaven women! wantonness! bidets! Yes folks, the Europeans [stage whisper]: touch themselves in that private place.  Every day.  To WASH. Which means a whole slew of things involving accepting dirt, sweat, autosexuality, the human production of juices and so forth and so on.

The real question to pose is: are we ready for the sweaty, higher libidoed, pungent masses? For it’s not something that turns me off — or most Continentals I’ve met, for that matter (don’t forget the wantonness!) but its something we at least keep the illusion of keeping out of the offices, schools, and other fine establishments. Restaurants, your patrons may comingle with your tantalizing aromas not only in their eau d’homme et femme avec cologne et parfum, but so too with eau de… homme et femme. Eau de NOUS. The smell… of US. And we may find that after dinner we want to… take someone home for dessert.

Walter Benjamin, writing in Paris in the 1930’s, queried:
“Who still knows, nowadays, where it was that in the last decade of the previous century women would offer to men their most seductive aspect, the most intimate promise of their figure? In the asphalted indoor arenas where people learned to ride bicycles. The women as cyclist competes with the cabaret singer for the place of honor on posters, and gives to fashion its most daring line.”

For Benjamin, and many of his contemporaries, the image of the fairer sex astride a bicycle was akin to the switch from sidesaddles to that same, er, mounted position in equestrian riding — a not only novel but radical, sexual one. And irregardless of which gender you might admire, there is a notably erotic element in the rosy cheek and heaving lung of the cyclist: when paired with a natty get up (for which Paris then as now was never lacking) the effect is nothing short of arousing.

The mood on the street as these two-wheeled darlings of athleticism and aesthetic aplomb change the pattern of our walking, the speed of our gaze, the rhythm of our breath and theirs — is undeniably HUMAN. They alter the staid concrete and breathe life into our humdrum hours — for there, amongst the mechanical carriages and caverns of steel and glass they move, darting in and out like sparrows, foxes teasing through the hunts’ hooves. And so begins a fissure in the financially-fashioned fabric of America.

When one visits Europe one can’t quite put a finger on what tickles the nose, the skin, what rides in the air of the cities there — is it to bold to suggest this invisible energy is directly linked to the long time tradition of the streets filled with bicycles? To put it shortly — yes. There is an unspoken, unmapped humanity that is exuded from masses of persons who are in very fact “auto-mobile”: a populism, a hint of revolution, an acceptance and demonstration of willed physical exertion. The biker says without a word: in my calves lies the power. Independence of movement releases one from the grid, from the preordained paths, from the nodes of mass transit and the standardized mapping of Place — and so too does the fabric of “knowledge” (what we know and how we know it) further unravel.

The question, then,  is not only what to wear to the Ball of Ourselves, but, are we ready for the party?

By L DeSilva-Johnson (via BrooWaha New York and her personal blog)

The First Ladies of Fashion - Screenshot from vanityfair.com

Now, one would think that when world leaders from 20 and 28 countries, respectively, meet within a week, there would be important issues to discuss. Such as how to save our economies in midst of the worldwide financial crises, how to save Afghanistan from chaos, or how to save the financial industry from new regulations (this last point was only on the agenda of some participants, and seems to pose a contradiction to point no. 1).

But then a graceful, tall, pretty first lady entered the picture and everyone was momentarily blinded. The result was that the focus of the media outlets shifted from world conflicts (they’re so hard to convey to the fast-clicking internet crowd anyway) to Mrs. Obama’s outfits. Scandalously, she wore a cardigan to meet the Queen! This prompted Bonnie Fuller to scream that Michelle Obama has lost her mind! and is suddenly “a fashion disaster”. Wow, good thing we talked about that. Afghanistan – who? (What might be added: Bonnie Fuller – who?)

The Obamamania caught on with “serious” news outlets as well, even though their interpretation was different. Christoph von Marschall of Der Tagesspiegel concludes that the visit to Europe “stabilizes her position.” Michelle Obama’s, that is. As U.S. First Lady, it’s apparently essential to have a stronghold in Europe.  Even the complicated links of international relations were broken down to the questions of which first lady dressed better. The result of this “fashion face-off” varies depending on the observer, so at least the two issues have one thing in common.

In all the marvelling, some publications completely lost their heads and even made German Chancellor Angela Merkel part of the outfit competition. The subheading to their picture (see screenshot) says: “Barack and Michelle Obama pose with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, along with other NATO leaders and their wives at the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany.” Thanks, Vanity Fair, for informing me that Joachim Sauer has taken over government activites from his wife. I almost missed that.

The Afghans were left to save themselves, but I’m not sure anyone noticed.

Update, April 5: Time has written an interesting analysis about the dissonance between Barack and Michelle Obama’s worlds.

By Jessica Binsch

First Loves in Polaroids on ourfirstloves.com

The site ourfirstloves.com has collected many such stories, from falling in love with spaghetti to memories of first pets. They’re funny, heart-warming, and sure to make you laugh. There’s also someone who shares my first love. His name is Frank and he is 80 years old, but I think I have to visit him someday because he has what I want: an own library.

By Jessica Binsch

What will they do for the next four years??

• faking numbers of Iraqi security forces
• hiring inexperienced personnel, or personnel with experience and qualifications completely unrelated to the job they were hired to do (National Security and Tennis, anyone?)
• decision making that was often carried out on the go, or by only few individuals without consultation of further expert opinions (Big Decisions, Little Debate)

The whole report can be accessed and searched via the New York Times website, where you can read all the outrageous information for yourself.

The report concludes with a part on “Lessons Learned”, and one can only hope that those lessons will be absorbed by the people in charge of the USA’s other war, as the article points out:

“The United States could soon have reason to consult this cautionary tale of deception, waste and poor planning, as both troop levels and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan are likely to be stepped up under the new administration.”

But not as an elected officials, at least not literally. Instead, students all over the world have the opportunity to join the Model G8 Youth Summit held in Milan, Italy, March 15- 21, 2009. This simulation, to take place parallel to the G8 meeting in Italy, provides a great chance to get an inside look at the obscure working of the Big Eight, controversial as they may be. During the negotiations, participants will work out an official communiqué that will be handed over to government representatives from the G8 states.

With all the controversy and protest sorrounding the G8, the organizing NGO points out that the purpose of the youth summit is “to make the G8 summit more transparent and (…) introduce a younger generation’s goals, visions, ideas, and ways of solution into the G8 process.” Therefore, this is not a protest camp – but not a group of yes-sayers, either. Instead, an opportunity to learn more about G8, explore the workings and limits of negotiations in that setting, and voice constructive criticism.

All the while participants will get to know students from all over the world and their unique perspectives while staying in beautiful Milan.

The positions to be filled for each country are

• Head of State
• Sherpa
• Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Minister of Economics
• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Development
• Minister of Environment
• Minister of Defence
• Expert: climate change
• Expert: intellectual property rights vs. humanitarian aid
• Expert: Corporate Social Responsibility and financial instituitions: financial sustainability

Additionally to the G8 countries USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Japan, and Russia the so-called O5 Outreach States Brasil, China, Mexico, India, and South Africa will need representation as well as.

To apply, you need to have student status and proper English knowledge (which I guess is presumed if you are reading this blog right now). Send in a resume and the application form to your country’s committee. More info on the application process can be found here for the German delegation, and at g8youthsummit.org for all other countries.

But hurry, the deadline is Thursday, November 20, 2008 for the German team, and is approaching for the other countries’ teams, too. Don’t miss it!

No Recovery Till 2010?
Today, Friday, the U.S. government announced the highest unemployment rate, 6.5 percent, since 1994. October marked the tenth consecutive month of decline on the job market. Since August, the U.S. economy has lost 651,000 jobs, October accounting for 240,000 jobs alone, totaling 1.2 million lost jobs so far this year.

Meanwhile, “[wages] have effectively shrunk for most workers, as rising costs for food and fuel have more than absorbed meager increases in pay. That has further crimped American proclivities to spend,” the New York Times reported today.

On Monday, Nov. 3, Marketwatch.com reported that the auto industry had its darkest day in 25 years, making October, “probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era.” A possible merger with Chrysler on the horizon, General Motors have announced massive cuts to contain financial losses. But even with new and more eco-friendly cars slated for a 2009 release, credit still remains tight despite the taxpayer-financed $700 billion bailout.

However, it is not just the stagnation on the big-items market that has taken its toll on unemployment rates. As consumers have become more budget-minded, even general merchandise stores laid off 18,000 workers last month. And though the season for Christmas shopping is fast approaching, skeptics believe, those numbers are not looking to improve.

Facing almost unreasonably high expectations, this is sure to pose one of the biggest immediate challenges to President-elect Barack Obama’s new administration, which is bound to disappoint some high-hope voters. Obama has laid out a detailed plan to stimulate growth, anticipating to generate 5 million so-called “green collar” jobs over the next ten years. Still, experts predict that the short-term effects of his plan will be minimal, and that the US will likely lose another 500,000 jobs between now and inauguration day, January 20th, 2009, inflating unemployment rates to seven percent – numbers not seen since 1993. Some experts warn that the US will not see a recovery until 2010 – alarming news for the world’s most important economy. “Superman couldn’t change what’s in store for the U.S. economy. It’s going to be ugly,” said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research, to CNN on Wed. 5^th.

Reconstructing Washington
The news today of rising unemployment rates puts pressure on Obama to appoint an administration that will instill trust in the new government’s ability to tackle the problem.

Yesterday, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (R-IL) accepted president-elect Obama’s offer to become White House chief of staff. Emanuel is the fourth-ranking member of the House, and has worked on former President Clinton’s first campaign, as well as served as his White House adviser. Though highly esteemed for his political skills, his Chicago-style has earned him a reputation on the Hill. “He is that rare breed who can engage in a back-alley fight but also understands that there’s a time to set aside bare-knuckle fights and attempt to move an agenda,” said Rep. Putnam (R-Fla.) to the Washington Post. This same quality has led some pundits to question the message of change, Obama had promised during his campaign. Who will bring “new” to Washington?

Obama and Biden have already announced the co-chairs of the presidential transition team, Obama-Biden Transition Project: David Axelrod, top adviser to Obama – first in his 2004 Campaign for US Senator, and more currently as chief strategist of the Obama 2008 presidential campaign; John Podesta, former chief of staff to Bill Clinton and trusted Obama adviser; Pete Rouse, a Capitol Hill insider, and chief of staff to then-Senator Obama; and, finally, Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser, and long-time friend, to Obama and family, as well as a Chicago lawyer.

Appointments for the new Cabinet are still unannounced, and uncertain, but, so far, speculation about top positions indicate a mix of “Washington insiders and high-profile business executives.” These include Senator John Kerry (MA) as possible Secretary of State, former Clinton White House Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, as Secretary of Commerce, and an economic team containing former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and Larry Summers, United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.

The question is: With the country headed towards the edge of the cliff, are Americans really ready to hand over the wheel and take the road less traveled?

By Peter Dahl

source: UCAS

Young Brits simply aren’t betting their future on the United States being able to keep their place as the only global super power left. The article links this development to the declining reputation of the United States in the leading European nations. In Germany, some institutes for American Studies also face a serious downturn in applications, as is the case in Dortmund. The institute’s director Walter Grünzweig is quoted as saying: “Students don’t trust us. We have to convince them that we’re not part of the propaganda branch of the American Embassy.”

Granted, that’s old Europe speaking right there. American studies have a lot more fans in the former east bloc. In Albania, there is ever more demand for courses. In Turkey, where the anti-american blockbuster “Valley of the Wolfes” has been a big hit two years ago and public perception of the United States is – to say the least – hostile, the desire to learn English outweighs most of the concerns.

At the same time, applications for Middle Eastern and Chinese Studies have doubled in recent years in the United Kingdom. A trend that is obviously rooted in the perceived birth of a coming super power, as Tim Wright of the British Association for Chinese Studies states: “Increasingly, people are realizing that to be successful in the world of the 21st century, they need to understand China.”

So, at one of the most challenging and therefore interesting moments in the historical development of the United States – with the trauma of 9/11 still looming, the decline of global influence after a lost decade threatening its interests in the world and the globalization substantially altering its finance and business world – the interest of students drops. Of course, to us who are still devoted to the matter it makes no difference where the United States stand in the world, but apparently this is not the case for a bigger share of young people trying to figure out what exactly they want to do in life. Not study a nation in decline, the answers seems to be.

By Kolja

Update: Discussion is going on over at Atlantic Review.

Germans know their history well. To this day, over 50 years after WWII, and almost 20 years since the Wall gave way to German unity, they are still struggling with their past. To this day, you will still find Germans in their forties being asked, if they ever met Hitler back then, when they were in the Hitlerjugend (any need to stress the absurdity here?). And to this day, you will still find young Europeans carrying within them the resentment passed down through generations, from when their countries or cities were occupied by the Nazi regime.

No page in history is the mere sum of its words. It holds the lives and fates of the thousands before it, who paved the way. It holds the hearts and souls of those who changed it. And it owes its life to those, whose story it never got a chance to tell.

For that reason, tomorrow, Obama will walk with Kennedy, and he will work with Reagan to tear down the Wall. Obama’s every word will be dissected, and held against the Berlin sky, where those of his predecessors still flow. And for that reason, Obama, tomorrow, can make history. The question is whose?, and how well? One thing seems certain, though, the Germans are on their guards. The location of his speech alone has already been enough to keep the political kettle boiling, and public sentiments brewing, over the past weeks.

Apparently, speaking in Berlin is something you earn. “He is no Kennedy, he is not even president yet!,” roared the opposition by the thought of Obama speaking at Rathaus Schöneberg, where Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech 45 years ago. Brandenburger Gate, where Reagan delivered his famous “Tear Down this Wall” speech, on June 12, 1987, was nixed by Chancellor Merkel. Both speeches articulated the desire for peace, and for freedom. And though Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel might be more urgent venues for articulating those desires, Berlin is still as good as ever.

In many ways, 9/11 was our Kennedy assassination, and it was our Dr. King on the balcony. It changed the world as we knew it, it shook our faith in the goodness of mankind, and it propelled us into uncertainty – it made us lose hope.

But Obama, too, is our Kennedy, and he is our Dr. King. For many, even beyond the U.S., he is that hope – and the belief – that change is going to come, that the world, again, can become a better place. Obama might not be president yet, but he can make history. And Berlin has always been the place for that…

By Peter Dahl

Witty and politically incorrect – only on TV

The series beared unexpected turns, witty remarks and wonderfully politically incorrect actions. All this has gotten lost in the transition to the cinema screen. In the place of explicit talks there is name-dropping to an almost unbearable level. When Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) does a photo shoot, minutes are spend just hearing designer names. It is true that fashion has always been a very important part of the series, but this is an overdose even for fans. It makes the whole movie seem like a two-hour-exodus to the home shopping channel, only thing missing is the blinking „order here“ button. This degrades the women who have been watching every episode addictively and have grown to love the characters to mere credit card holders.

The Shoes More Important Than The Story

The plot couldn’t keep up with the wardrobe. And, yes, this does contain a flaw in this case. The plot is so thin that you know it all just from watching the two-minute preview. The preview also gives away about one and a half hours of the movie’s time, and the little surprises that come up cannot make up for this. The storyline is so disrupted that one can hardly follow it. Location changes serve as a replacement for plot turns. This is not what the TV series deserved.

The characters and their actions remain superficial and sometimes incomprehensible. One has to remember, this movie is obviously made for those who know the series (otherwise you would have trouble following it). These women know the characters, and have followed them over years. In a way, the four ladies have become the „good friends who moved to the big city“ for their audience. Living a life more extravagant than them, but coming back to tell of it every Thursday night.

This deep understanding of the characters is violated in the movie. The character development is minimal, and where action occurs, it is left unexplained. How the writing team did not manage to come up with a more coherent plot remains a mystery – after all, they had more than enough time for it, as the movie has been in planning for years. This is extremely unfortunate and probably the biggest flaw of this film.

Back to Where it All Started

The second flaw is the ending. I do not want to give too much away here, but it is unfitting for a movie whose main character makes sure to state that fairy tales don’t happen in real life. It is also unfitting for its audience, which expected a more grown-up solution of the ever-ongoing story of Carrie and Mister Big. Suddenly, everything turns out along the lines of happily ever after.

I had read bad reviews before and blamed them on the reviewer being a man and not knowing about the fascination that is Sex and the City. But unfortuntaley, I have to agree. This movie will be a disappointment to those who have come to love the series. The characters are neglected in favor of big designer names. But in the end, even Manolo Blahnik stilettos cannot carry an entire movie alone.

By Jessica Binsch