And did you exchange a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
for a lead role in a cage?
11 abril 2008
Frikinoticia: los líderes también duermen
Forget Chequers and the Palace of Versailles. The next time Gordon Brown or Nicholas Sarkozy need a bolthole in which to recharge their batteries or a place for a private pow-wow, they might find themselves lured to a new retreat amid the pink rocks of the Nevada desert.
Donna Vassar, part of the Vassar education dynasty, has launched plans to build a $300m (£150m) private getaway for stressed-out presidents and prime ministers who want to "reconnect with their unique purpose in life".
The Universitas Leadership Sanctuary is intended as part monastery and part conference centre where the most powerful men and women on the planet can get away from it all with a combination of reading, contemplation and even a spot of gardening.
To remind them of their role as leaders of the planet, the sanctuary will be built in the shape of a four-storey globe on the shores of Lake Las Vegas, a privately-owned lake in the south Nevada desert where temperatures can reach 50C at the height of summer.
Vassar, whose family established the liberal arts college of the same name in New York State, has unveiled plans which include libraries, contemplation spaces and debating chambers. She intends to recreate a monastic existence which means entourages of press officers, policy advisers and secretaries which routinely support world leaders will be banned. There will even be a garden to provide food for the sanctuary tables, raising the prospect of future world leaders tilling the soil together while ruminating on the direction of the latest round of world trade talks.
Speaking through a spokeswoman, Vassar said visitors would be encouraged "to keep things informal in order to submit to the relaxing atmosphere".
"The place is designed to strip away the layers of protocol that build up around these kind of people and help them get back to clarity. They can also use the place like a monk might. There will be libraries and a garden to produce food, although I can't quite see Gordon Brown going out and tilling the land."
The main globe building will be on four levels. The ground floor will house a library and the first floor a debating chamber, while on the second floor will be technology to help make the building energy efficient. At the top, under a dome of glass, will be the spiritual heart of the development - the contemplation space where leaders will be encouraged to sit in silence.
The world leaders will have simple quarters next to the globe where they will be able to eat and sleep during retreats lasting a weekend or longer.
Donna Vassar, part of the Vassar education dynasty, has launched plans to build a $300m (£150m) private getaway for stressed-out presidents and prime ministers who want to "reconnect with their unique purpose in life".
The Universitas Leadership Sanctuary is intended as part monastery and part conference centre where the most powerful men and women on the planet can get away from it all with a combination of reading, contemplation and even a spot of gardening.
To remind them of their role as leaders of the planet, the sanctuary will be built in the shape of a four-storey globe on the shores of Lake Las Vegas, a privately-owned lake in the south Nevada desert where temperatures can reach 50C at the height of summer.
Vassar, whose family established the liberal arts college of the same name in New York State, has unveiled plans which include libraries, contemplation spaces and debating chambers. She intends to recreate a monastic existence which means entourages of press officers, policy advisers and secretaries which routinely support world leaders will be banned. There will even be a garden to provide food for the sanctuary tables, raising the prospect of future world leaders tilling the soil together while ruminating on the direction of the latest round of world trade talks.
Speaking through a spokeswoman, Vassar said visitors would be encouraged "to keep things informal in order to submit to the relaxing atmosphere".
"The place is designed to strip away the layers of protocol that build up around these kind of people and help them get back to clarity. They can also use the place like a monk might. There will be libraries and a garden to produce food, although I can't quite see Gordon Brown going out and tilling the land."
The main globe building will be on four levels. The ground floor will house a library and the first floor a debating chamber, while on the second floor will be technology to help make the building energy efficient. At the top, under a dome of glass, will be the spiritual heart of the development - the contemplation space where leaders will be encouraged to sit in silence.
The world leaders will have simple quarters next to the globe where they will be able to eat and sleep during retreats lasting a weekend or longer.
09 abril 2008
Frikinoticia
Jason Niebling, un treintañero australiano padre de cuatro hijos, se quiere convertir en un hombre anuncio y ganar por la cara unos cuantos miles dólares.
Su propuesta innovadora consiste en ofrecer cada centímetro de la piel de su rostro para que las empresas coloquen sus anuncios en forma de tatuajes.
De momento, ya tiene la mitad de su cara cubierta con tatuajes decorativos, así como parte de su calva, pero ha reservado toda su mitad derecha para que el pujador más alto inscriba su anuncio, según publica Yahoo! News.
"Mi objetivo final es no tener que levantarme temprano cada mañana para ir a trabajar. Si puedo ganar dinero paseando mi cara por la calle por qué no lo voy a hacer, estoy en mi derecho", comentó Niebling.
_________________________________________________________
The 37-year-old from Ipswich, west of Brisbane, doesn't care if people think he's an idiot - just as long as the scheme pays off and he can better provide for his wife Amy and children Tre, Tanika, Candis and Finette.
Mr Niebling already has the left side of his face and his bald head covered in non-advertising tattoos, but the right half is up for sale to the highest bidder.
He is set to become the first person in Australia to ink a permanent tattoo advertisement on their body.
"I want to be a human advertising billboard," said Mr Niebling, who aims to have his first tattoo advertisement inked on live television.
"If someone comes up with enough money, they can have the entire right side of my face, which would be the ultimate advertising space."
He's waiting for an answer from a Mexican restaurant in Brisbane that was looking at buying a $10,000 ad space on his head.
Tattoo advertising has been around since 2003 when American Jim Nelson sold the space on the back of his head to a web hosting service for $US7,000.
Two years later Andrew Fischer, from Omaha, Nebraska, gained worldwide notoriety for auctioning his forehead space on eBay for temporary tattoo advertising, with the final bid coming in at $US37,375 for 30 days' work.
Su propuesta innovadora consiste en ofrecer cada centímetro de la piel de su rostro para que las empresas coloquen sus anuncios en forma de tatuajes.
De momento, ya tiene la mitad de su cara cubierta con tatuajes decorativos, así como parte de su calva, pero ha reservado toda su mitad derecha para que el pujador más alto inscriba su anuncio, según publica Yahoo! News.
"Mi objetivo final es no tener que levantarme temprano cada mañana para ir a trabajar. Si puedo ganar dinero paseando mi cara por la calle por qué no lo voy a hacer, estoy en mi derecho", comentó Niebling.
_________________________________________________________
Mr Niebling already has the left side of his face and his bald head covered in non-advertising tattoos, but the right half is up for sale to the highest bidder.
He is set to become the first person in Australia to ink a permanent tattoo advertisement on their body.
"I want to be a human advertising billboard," said Mr Niebling, who aims to have his first tattoo advertisement inked on live television.
"If someone comes up with enough money, they can have the entire right side of my face, which would be the ultimate advertising space."
He's waiting for an answer from a Mexican restaurant in Brisbane that was looking at buying a $10,000 ad space on his head.
Tattoo advertising has been around since 2003 when American Jim Nelson sold the space on the back of his head to a web hosting service for $US7,000.
Two years later Andrew Fischer, from Omaha, Nebraska, gained worldwide notoriety for auctioning his forehead space on eBay for temporary tattoo advertising, with the final bid coming in at $US37,375 for 30 days' work.
¿Quién teme a la antorcha olímpica?
Es muy posible que a la antorcha olímpica le queden un par de días de recorrido. El Comité Olímpico Internacional se reúne el viernes en Pekín para estudiar la posibilidad de suspender la gira, después de los "incidentes" registrados en Londres, París y San Francisco. Antes de que eso ocurra, varias reflexiones.
Uno
La antorcha es un símbolo, nada más. Un objeto sobre el que se mantiene una llama supuestamente histórica. Aquellos que persiguen a la antorcha pretender criticar al gobierno chino; pero no es lo mismo. Para atacar a la iglesia no basta con poner un crucifijo del revés. Si quieren hacer daño a Pekín, podrían enviar miles de correos a sus gobiernos, a sus comités olímpicos, a los deportistas que van a representar a ese país, a los patrocinadores de los atletas... Podrían explicar cuál es la situación en China y por qué piensan que es mejor boicotear los juegos (yo, la verdad, no lo tengo muy claro; hay días que pienso que hay que sabotearlos y días que no). Eso quizá sería de alguna utilidad. Amnistía Interacional lleva años usando este método, y algo ha conseguido...
Dos
Los medios estamos magnificando la situación. Si informamos de "incidentes" en la antorcha en Londres, miles de franceses piensan, "Espera a que llegue aquí; ¡nosotros seremos más!". Si decimos que los ingleses han intentado apagar la antorcha, ellos se dicen, "¡Juas!, nosotros la apagamos, fijo". Obviamente hay que informar de lo que sucede, pero con cabeza. El problema es que "las imágenes son muy buenas". Y claro, todos los medios (sin excepción) sacamos las fotografías o las imágenes de las protestas. Así que, una vez más, no informamos de la realidad, creamos la realidad.
Tres
Me parece realmente curioso que el mundo, por así decirlo, se eche a la calle para defender a unos monjes que viven en una región desconocida a miles de kilómetros de sus casas. Será porque son budistas. Es decir, con un punto de exotismo. Queda bien defender a un monje budista. No tanto a un sacerdote católico. Defender a un imán no es nada "cool". Pero, señores, las religiones son las religiones. No me importa el color de sus túnicas. El Dalai Lama pasa por ser un "anciano entrañable"; pero hay que recordar que está en su puesto porque es, dicen, la reencarnación de Buda. Al menos Ratzinger se lo trabajado.
Cuatro (o Tres bis)
Quizá esta defensa ardorosa del Tíbet (nunca sé si es "de Tíbet o "del Tíbet") surja a raíz de la represión china del mes pasado. Podría ser. Eso demostraría una vez más que la gente no tiene memoria. Por una parte, el Tíbet está ocupado desde 1950; ha habido tiempo para protestar. Por otra, la represión china abarca muchos más aspectos de la sociedad. Disidentes políticos, escritores, miembros de la llamad secta Falung Gong, enfermos de sida, blogueros, periodistas... De todas las personas puteadas en el país, se fijan en los únicos que viven más o menos bien (tienen una cierta autonomía, al fin y al cabo). Los únicos que me causan admiración son los de Reporteros Sin Fronteras. Desde el primer día han estado al pie del cañón.
En fin, ojalá todo esto sirva para que Pekín dé un paso hacia las libertades. Pero sé que no va a ser así.
06 abril 2008
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)