Harry Potter Cancelled

Bloomsbury, J.K.Rowling's publisher, announced yesterday that the publication of Ms Rowling's latest, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be postponed to a later date. Details are yet to be unveiled. Rumors about a cancellation of the entire series seem to have been making the rounds at Bloomsbury for quite a while. This new development comes as a total shock.

I cannot believe that this is happening. I just can't! I so hope that the book will be published. I don't care if it is a week later than planned, but cancel the whole thing???

Subvolcanic Sharks Unable to Barf

It is physically impossible for sharks to vomit while submerged under lava. This astounding new insight into the lives of subvolcanic sharks is the result of intense research and long-running experiments, says S. Hark of the Institute for Volcanic Ichtiology. Sharks of different varieties have been exposed to sub-lava conditions for different periods of time. Even after consuming copious amounts of emetics, no shark has been found to have vomited. S. Hark claims that these new data will revolutionize the way we think about, well, a lot of things.

Rammstein

I just bought the new album by Rammstein. Like all its predecessors, it consists of eleven songs. Every one of them is worth the money spent! It may not be in typical Rammstein style, but the changes are simply amazing. Rosenrot does not have the in-your-face oomph of, say, Herzeleid. Instead, it takes you in by its deep-rooted underlying sadness that is present in all the songs. From the opening track, Benzin, down to the last song, Ein Lied, every piece on this album almost makes you cry. Rammstein do not rely on Till Lindemann's booming bass voice so much as on his almost expressionist lyrics.

My favorite track so far is easily Spring. Its the story of a man who stands on the edge of a highrise building who came there to watch the skies but who is eventually forced to jump to his death to satisfy the mob that had gathered to watch his supposed suicide attempt.

Saddam Hussein

What with the trial of Saddam Hussein kicking off today, I engaged in a conversation about "what is the right thing to do" with regards to the trial. In the course of this discussion, someone pointed out the basic dilemma for lookers-on such as myself:

I think these issues are genuinely very difficult. I'm strongly opposed to capital punishment under almost all circumstances, but to what extent are we entitled to tell another country how to run its legal system? Particularly given the US's record on capital punishment. This is a classic liberal dilemma - is liberalism a commitment to a positive set of values or a commitment not to impose values?

Time will tell, right?

A Book In A Small Town

So, today the new Harry Potter book is out. Phantastizillions of people have been waiting for this day, children have been nagging, fans have been clogging up book stores. At midnight, raving mobs stormed the stores all over the world to get their hands on the latest, the newest, the most exciting or whatever. Did I say all over the world? Not in Waren they didn't. Which is where I am currently spending my days being fed and kept cozy by my parents. In this sleepy little town (not so sleepy, judging by the noise those damn teenagers made last night coming home from the local dance attraction - which apparently closes at 1 a.m.) the owner of the book shop assured me that while she did order the English book (the German translation will be out in, like, a year or so), she does not really expect to sell a single one. Well, she is gonna sell one to me. After a nice and enormous breakfast I will take a nice relaxed walk up to the store, have a chat with the book lady, buy the book and then retire into the safety of my sofa and start reading...

A Word To The Wise

The wise never listen. The wise never talk. The wise never interfere. They don't fuck up, they don't do well, they don't have sex or beer or friends or heart attacks. They don't, simply, exist.

While this may sound overly pessimistic, it is simply my way of trying to get back to this blogging thing which I have not been very active about for some three months or so. Look at the dates and do the maths for yourselves.

Like the flies...

Dying they are. Like the flies. If I were not the sensitive and caring person I am, I would be too busy laughing my butt off to be even typing this. Of course, to do this laughing thing I would also have to have a rather morbid and sick sense of humor, but for the sake of an argument, let's just assume that I do. Under this assumption, the following items make perfect sense.

1. The pope is dying.
2. Rainier III of Monaco is dying.
3. German acting and drinking legend Harald Juhnke has just died.
4. The CEO of Berlin's public transportation service passed fell dead during an examination of his knee yesterday.
5. Not to mention Terri Schiavo.
6. It is April Fool's Day.

And no, this is not a joke. This is real life happening in reality. Or rather, real death happening in reality. If I had written a story and these multiple deaths were happening in there, it would be labeled as junk. Justly so, I might hasten to add. This is probably just a case for Life imitating poor Art.