IKEA: Design your life.

Can't really control your life? Feel you don't have a choice? Don't know what to do with yourself? Feel like there are not enough outlets for you to express yourself?

Well, have you ever considered spending all your energy on creating yourself the perfect interior then? Cause that is what IKEA's advertisement suggests you should do:

"IKEA. Design your life." (quote from radio)

Because this is what our pathetic consumeristic existance has come to:

designing your interior = designing your life

So cheer up, when there is nothing else left to do to give yourself a sense of place, belonging and achievement, you can always re-do your interior!

PS: If you are as frustrated as me, here is another cheaper alterative for you: start a blog! :P

Praise me for I know how to consume

I have finally awaken and started perceiving a most peculiar behaviour... Every time someone in my extended family buys a new car/laptop (or any other noticeable purchase) they feel the urge to ' demostrate' their new purchase and (the rest of the family) is as curious as to make sure to pay a visit soon after the purchase. Thus the family gathers and everyone flocks around to observe the newly-born (oops, I meant bought) family member. (oh, and in case you couldn't make it to the little 'demonstration family reunion', don't you worry: you will promptly be receiving an email with photos attached).
After the demonstration the incessant praising starts: "Oh yes, great car" , " Ow, very nice indeed" ... Sheepishly I follow along (for if you don't you risk being considered unfriendly and snobbish), force myself to look interested and finally, trying hard to fake enthusiasm, I utter "Indeed, nice car". When actually I couldn't CARE LESS. My interest for cars/laptops (or whatever) goes as far as their functional purpose goes. "Can you drive in the car you just bought?". If the answer is ' yes' conversation has finished as far as I am concerned.

Why this urge to show? Why this craving for approval? Do they need to hear others telling them they made a good choice? If that is what they want I will give it right now:
Congratulations you've been convinced by good marketing that you need yet another product, and this one in specific. Congratulations also for skillfully having chosen that which has already been mass-produced for you.

18th century robots

Robots turning eeringly life-like... Androids replacing humans... It sounds we are on the verge of a whole new era in human history. Interestingly however we are not the first humans to think so.

When today we think that computers and robots might take over the world, our 16th century ancestors thought the clock will! The clock, with its moving hands and intricate mechanics had deeply impressed people. Descartes (a famous philosopher) actually envisioned that a clock could one day perhaps even move a person's legs.

The 18th century had its own little robotics-revolution. A lot of 'automata' were build at that time. These 'automata' were in a sense mechanical toys but the extend to which they were life-like really enchanted people. Needless to say, the first of these automata were constructed as gifts for Kings, Queens and Noblemen. I will list a few of these impressive creations below.

There is Jacques Vaucason's duck. A 'robot' duck that can sit, stand eat and... poo!

Then there is "La Joueuse de Tympanon". Notice how in this video she is even moving her head and eyes! Creepy!

And Henri Maillardet's "writer".

You can also check out this trailer. You can see various automata as well as Vaucanson's duck in action!

So I think by now it should be clear: We are not the first to wonder: "what if one day these robots start having a mind of their own?"...

Animal instincts & ingenious anti-rape mechanisms

Animals... Wild.. Uncontrollable... Following their instincts...

Now, would you think an animal can feel 'raped'...? To be very honest I sort of thought animals would like anything that feels good (unless I guess it doesn't).

But apparently they don't.

To be more specific, in some duck species female ducks have developed an

elaborate 'anti-rape' mechanism. It seems that they are often approached by aggressive (undesired) male ducks with malicious intentions and finding no escape... :(

So, (it seems) they have developed certain sacks/dead ends in their vagina... Once the 'aggressor' is led into those their sperm is practically wasted.

Who would have thought...!

If you want to know more check out this article.

“Despite the fact that most water fowl form monogamous pairs, forced copulations by other males — the avian equivalent of rape — are common in many water fowl, [...]. The length of the phallus of a species is strongly correlated with the frequency of forced copulations.” - P. Brennan

I leave the conclusions up to you.

The bright side of the Dark Ages

The Inquisition, burning books, scientist and philosophers dying slow and painful deaths because they held a belief opposed by the 'Church', suppressed urges and emotions... A creepy image of the Dark Ages...

I started reading this book on the Middle Ages, "Liebe und Sex im Mittelalter" (love and sex in medieval times) by Alexander Ballhaus and I am surprised to find that those Dark Ages might have a bright side too. (and no, I don't mean the Hollywood 'princesses and knights' bright side!)

Even though the 'Church' (and thus to an extend Christianity) have been the driving force behind that terrifying Inquisistion and other horrible things, Christianity has also brought about important changes that distinguish the ancient from the modern world.

For one thing Christianity, with its claim that all humans are equal in the eyes of God, laid the foundation for the later abolishment of slavery. (note that in the Roman Empire slaves were regarded and treated as animals; also note how Christianity was initially adopted by slaves and how they were persecuted by the Roman Empire)

Beside this, it also brought about a shift in people's minds about the position of women.

Clement of Alexandria reported: "Christians want women to be appreciated on the basis of the purity of their behavior and not their beauty; furthermore they don't want men regarding women as subservient objects, because nature gave us marriage, just as it gave us food, which we can use but not abuse." [4]

Even though it might have taken a long time until women and men became equals and slavery was abolished, it seems that the Dark Ages have been a breeding ground for this. A first step in a long-long journey...

Homosexual necrophiliac duck

Yes, you understood correctly. Homosexuality and necrophilia (finding the dead sexually attractive) have been observed in ducks (both at the same time, an all-in-one bingo) just outside the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam.

How did this happen? Well, one fine day a male duck (the 'victim-duck') flew against the museum's huge window and dropped dead (just like many other birds do apparently). Then another male duck arrived that started ahm "copulating" with the dead duck... Kees Moeliker who worked at the museum happened to pass, video-taped the whole event and described it extensively in a paper (he later even won a Ig Nobel Prize for this).

A funny detail is that when Kees tried to collect the carcass he was faced by an aggressive attack from the 'molester duck' who was defending his 'prey'...!

Well, isn't nature full of surprises?!

Wealth distorts perception

Living in the pink bubble of a "rich" country distorts your perception of reality.

Few days ago, in the Netherlands, a discussion emerged about animal rights with the concrete proposal of applying a "meat tax" (up to 2 euro's per kilo, depending on how "bio" the piece of meat is), with the aim to reduce meat consumption and ensure better treatment for the animals.

For quiet a while I was myself very involved into this discussion. Until I saw this. A documentary about child trafficking and women forced into prostitution. To give you an indication of the extent of the problem: about 50.00 women per year are being trafficked to the USA alone...

When I am confronted with stuff like this anything else seems SO FUTILE... "Animal right, 1 or 2 euros"- What are we even babbling about!!... But alas, we DO live in our own MICROCOSMOS... It is a problem of perception. Apparently to 'us' it seems that most problems pertaining to "human rights" are solved (in our part of the world at least) so we can now actually start worrying about "animal rights"...

Don't get me wrong, I find any initiative to better the world (animal or human) more than welcome but sometimes things just seem awfully out of balance...

Anyways. Beside the point of us living in our pink bubble, I also wonder:

Is forced prostitution a poverty problem? Or is this a social/mentality problem? (ie. where there is a need that shall be a supply)