As many of you know, I spent a few days in New York last week.
It was amazing, exhausting, transforming, interesting, fun, and everything else you can possibly imagine.
I had a great time being in this busy city, seeing some really amazing sights (Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Union Square, MoMa, Highline Park Rockefeller Center) and meeting some amazing people.
I spent one evening with Amine, enjoying an awesome dinner, walking through Union Park and Manhatten.
Amine, Mr. NY, showing me Union Square
Also I met Nick, who showed me the Moma and its exciting Matisse exhibition, High-line Park, other parts of Manhatten and Brooklyn, as well es Williamsburg -the hippster district ;-)
Together with Nick and Shannon I had great Indian food, somewhere in Manhattan
Nick in his apparment in Brooklyn
Nick and a friend on Highline Park, Manhatten
Shannon and a piece of me during lunch in an Indian res
taurant
At the Entrance of Moma.
Also I had the awesome opportunity to stay with Vedas family! They were so great, and gave me much more then I ever hoped for! They even took me to their temple on saturday! It was amaying!
Inspired by Josh Adams I also took some Videos.
One is of the probably best street artists I have ever seen playing in a Subway station! I was sooo sad when the train entered the station, cause i did not want to leave them...
Sooo, it was an amazing time, and i hope to come back to NY soon!
love
o finally i managed to see this film that gabe has told me about soo long ago.
and i must say: It is awesome!
I am not gonna try to repeat the plot, but here is one scene that made this move soo special.
it probably has one of the most amazing flirting scenes ever! Its just great!
I love it!
Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Dagney? That's your name? Tremendous name. My name's Jimmy and I have just one single impulsive question. Are you in love? Dagney: What? Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: At the present time, are you in love? Dagney: Why? Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Because if you are, then I won't waste your time. I'm really not the type of man to impede another man's happiness. However, if you're not presently in love then I will continue my rhapsody, because if I may say so, Dagney, you are most definitely the bees' knees. Dagney: Does this rap ever work? Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Alas, in the old days. Now I rarely get a chance to try it. But you haven't answered my question. Dagney: I forgot it. Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Are you in love? Dagney: Well there is someone... Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: But? Dagney: We date... I have memorized his phone number, but I won't use his toothbrush... We're somewhere in between and he's crazy about me. Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: As he should be. You glide. Dagney: I glide? Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: You glide. It's a very attractive quality. Most girls, they merely plod along. You, on the other hand, you glide... Tell me about it. What's his name? Chip? Dagney: Alex... Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Same thing. Does he make you thump? Dagney: Define "thump". Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Thump. When you think about him, you can't eat You can't sleep. You forget about man's inhumanity to man. Does he do that for you? Dagney: That's a ridiculous concept. No one can do that. Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Girls who glide need guys who make them thump. Have dinner with me. Dagney: Aren't we the sultan of segue? Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: It's a beautiful month. Just have dinner with me. Dagney: Are you going to make me thump? Jimmy 'The Saint' Tosnia: Or die trying.
I admit: I have been watching Spartacus - Blood and Sand
the most bloody - violent - sexual - TV series I have ever seen...
Even watching the trailer gives you an idea of what to come:
i was quite surprised when i saw the first episode.
How can so much violence and sexuality be on mainstream TV?
But: I could not look away. Something took me in its ban. Something made me keep on watching.
Summarizing some of the reviews I have read:
"Spartacus: Blood and Sand" hopes to appeal to your bloodlust and the other, more common lust. Anyone who has a problem with violence, nudity, sex, profanity or anything else Rated R-worthy should tune into USA instead
The characters make proclamations such as that the sacred ground they stand upon is watered with the tears of blood. Seriously, the “tears of blood?” Or you get to watch a woman wander throughout the gladiators with unrestrained lust. After watching one of the gladiators be made to have sex with a slave girl, doggy style and as explicitly as possible without hitting hard core porn, the woman salivates as she asks, “Can you make him do it again?”
The first episode alone keeps up a brisk pace: Open with a gladiator fight, move to a sex scene six minutes in, follow that with a bigger battle, a fist fight, two more sex scenes and ... well, you get the idea. If bodies are a-grappling, "Spartacus" is where it's happening.
"Spartacus" is a rousing, addictive show that doesn't tax with too much moral complexity. It doesn't just try to reel us in with insane amounts of violence and sex, but also to appeal to our most basic, idealized views of how the world should work. True love, justice and freedom will win out, dammit, and Spartacus is our boy to make them happen.
I guess you get the picture.
But seriously, I am normally not one of these guys who like stuff like that. I am not driving a big car, I am not going to the gym every other day, I am not even getting in fights with other people.
But something in this cocktail of sex, brutality and stupidity is attracting me.
Is it the simpleness? Is it the plainness of "just killing" , black and white, doing - not asking?
For sure, it has something liberating. Not having to think.
Could it be that this portraits a dumb, attracting form of "being in the moment".
Being present every moment, or dying?
Or am I just making all of this up to justify my own lust for blood and sex?
Ok, so first of all: thanks to ashley for sharing this video with us. For those of you who have not seen it jet: WATCH IT! It is an amazing video about climate change and ideas how to work against it.
We need the infrastructure to get this started. We need a network of high-profile online destinations that people from all over the world can use to share their knowledge and generate the tools, innovations and social networks that we need to combat climate change.
I was deeply inspired by that little video and want to integrate it a little bit with other stuff i have seen lately.
First of all, i saw this little TED talk, where Seth Godin states that " tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change." Through the internet we have the capability to share our ideas and "infect" other people with what we think is right! This gives us the chance to articipate in and lead groups in every area we are interested in. If its sustainability or nuclear power does not really matter.
But, it gives small people the chance to change something, to have an impact on the world we live in. It gives you and me the opportunity to share our opinion!
Diaspora Team
Since the film also talks about the idea of a "network comprised of three sites working as a linked system", where one should be a new social network platform, i thought i'll introduce diasporaat this point. diaspora is a web project founded by 4 students with the goal of having a social network platform where everybody can decide which information to share. Its genius, simple and magic. Obviously a view other people thought so too, cause on kickstarter they raised over 200.000 dollars, 2000% of what they were asking for!
And there are many other projects out there, that are working toward a more positive world. Peter Joseph and his Zeitgeist Movement together with The Venus Project have been working on similar ideas over the las years, and there is thousands doing the same!
So lets step up!
The revolution has already begun! Coalition of the willing!
Ok, I am honest: I have tried a lot of different work outs, but nothing ever really worked for me. I just could not keep it up. Weather it's doing Yoga in my room, playing some kind of sports in a regularly basis or going to the Gym. I even was registered in a 80 euro-a-month Gym that offers everything you could wish (workout area, gymnastics area, spinning area, different classes from Yoga to guided weightlifting, personal trainer, pool, 3 saunas, a lot of friends that also go there) but still, after 2 month i basically did not go there anymore.
So why is that? I have no idea. My best guess is, that I am just not made to do the same thing over and over again.
I have been thinking about that, and thought to myself i make an advantage out of this problem:
Instead of trying to do one thing all the time and become really good, I just try to do something, whatever that is and be opened to everything new. The only condition: do something at least 5 hours a week.
So here is what i did since the beginning of the year 2010:
snowboarding, cross country skiing, snow hiking, yoga, jiu jitsu, biking, running, swimming, slack lining, rock climbing, volleyball, soccer, american football, frisbee, weight lifting, tennis, badminton, learning to ride a one-wheeler,
oh, and don't get me wrong: i am far from being good in any of these sports, for me it's just fun to learn something new, try it for some time and then either leave it or do it from time to time.
Soo, right now I am in Lancaster, Ma, working in an Ayurveda Spa. Its beautiful here, but: there is not much to do. We have awesome gardens and a lot of trees. That's how i started my newest kind of workout thing:
Tree Climbing
It's awesome! I love it! It's this mixture of strength, flexibility, coordination and adrenalin that really kicks my butt. And I think its a pretty good workout for my whole body. So i am following the fun for a while...
But today i was trying to figure which muscles tree climnbing actually trains, but mr. google only came up with a lot of kids stuff i specially liked that one: 7 Tips from Uncle Sam. Is tree climbing really only for Kids?
Here's how I do it:
First of all, I do some kind of warm up, which most of the time is just simply running for a few minutes and then do a little stretching before I start. Then I pick a tree that is challenging, I put my hand at it, close my eyes and "ask it for permition". Sounds kind of weird but I think since a tree is a living organism I should at least start some kind of communication with it before I jump on it and climb it. It also gives me a moment to focus on myself and concentrate. Since I am alone and more then 7 years old, I do the "free climbing" variation. No ropes, no security-something. Just me and the tree. Normally I wear my five -fingers, or on trees with an even bark I also often go barfoot, simply cause I like feeling the tree. Furthermore, since i have just started, I do not go too high up. But getting higher lets the adrenalin kick in, which I think is an awesome experience. Most of the times, when I reach the top I take a little break, look at my surroundings, maybe close my eyes and thank the tree and then descend again.
found this short video about spiritual awakening.
its kind of interesting, summarizing a lot i have been thinking about.
But what is this shift that is occuring? What is happening there? Is something happening?
Are we awakening? or is it just hip to be awakened?
eckhart tolle with oprah?!?! a live streamed awakening online class?!?!
i like Tolle, but some of his stuff is too mainstream for me...
what is it? a pseudo-trend?
a hype?
am i talking about awakening because Jim Carrey does?
and if so, is it wrong?
but also, if we are this awakening and this is a new world, why is it so dark?
why is war dominating, why are we killing each other? destroying the earth, spreading hatred and grief...
as a kid i loved the old star wars movies, later i really enjoyed the new ones and now i stumbled over the clone wars episodes.
I guess i watched about 10 of them in 2 days or so...
They are really awesome.
