I am not sure if the following report is true, but it does make for funny press. Also, if you cannot afford the Opera, just drive through some heavy traffic!!
Romanian Policemen Take Ballet Lessons
Balkan Travellers
27 February 2008
Next time you’re stuck in a Timişoara traffic jam and looking for a diversion to pass the time, just look out your window at the policeman directing the traffic. And don’t be surprised if you find certain elements of his moves reminiscent of a Swan Lake performance: instead of rigidly standing, arms outstretched, the policeman may signal you to go by standing in the arabesque pose, with one leg stretched straight out to the back and one arm extended out to the front.
This is because, as reported by international media, traffic policemen in the western Romanian city of Timişoara are taking regular ballet lessons to make them more elegant and graceful when directing traffic. Around two dozen members of the city’s community police are attending classes under two former dancers of the city’s Opera Ballet.
"The aim is to develop an ability to regulate traffic and achieve elegance in their movements, which will not only be agreeable to the eyes but could also help drivers waiting at a red light get rid of their stress or sadness," head of community police in the town of Timişoara, Dorel Cojan, told international media.
The initiative, which will at first consist of two classes per week for a month, is directed only at community policemen, who are responsible mainly for road safety and sometimes regulate traffic manually.
In the meantime, if you won’t be going through Timişoara anytime soon, but want to witness some graceful male ballet moves, we recommend renting the recorded version of the controversial Swan Lake performance, choreographed by Matthew Bourne, where the swans’ parts are danced by men.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Meat my son
How much would you pay for free stuff? If you are a shop-lifter, the answer is probably... not much. After all, why steal if you have to pay anyway? It sort of violates the very basic definition of "free".
Unless you absolutely must have that 40-inch plasma television set at all (or no!) cost.
Or that enticing packet of meat!! One shop-lifter in the Netherlands decided to renounce his own son for a measly packet of food. I guess the drugs are so easy to get, that thieves must aim higher for the challenge of it all. Read on (courtesy of Reuters)! As the economists like to say, there is nothing called a free lunch.
Fleeing shoplifter forgets son
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A shoplifter looking to make a quick getaway from a Dutch supermarket after stealing a packet of meat left police a crucial piece of evidence -- his 12-year-old son.
In his haste the 45-year-old thief made a solo dash to his car, batting away a supermarket worker who had flung himself on the vehicles' bonnet in a bid to stop the escape.
Police in the southern Dutch town of Kerkrade said they managed to contact the thief via the boy, but he had refused to return and collect his son. The man told officers to get hold of the youngster's mother instead.
The thief later turned himself in Thursday, a police spokeswoman said.
Unless you absolutely must have that 40-inch plasma television set at all (or no!) cost.
Or that enticing packet of meat!! One shop-lifter in the Netherlands decided to renounce his own son for a measly packet of food. I guess the drugs are so easy to get, that thieves must aim higher for the challenge of it all. Read on (courtesy of Reuters)! As the economists like to say, there is nothing called a free lunch.
Fleeing shoplifter forgets son
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A shoplifter looking to make a quick getaway from a Dutch supermarket after stealing a packet of meat left police a crucial piece of evidence -- his 12-year-old son.
In his haste the 45-year-old thief made a solo dash to his car, batting away a supermarket worker who had flung himself on the vehicles' bonnet in a bid to stop the escape.
Police in the southern Dutch town of Kerkrade said they managed to contact the thief via the boy, but he had refused to return and collect his son. The man told officers to get hold of the youngster's mother instead.
The thief later turned himself in Thursday, a police spokeswoman said.
Thou shalt hire this cheater!
In the world of American professional sport, it is easy to assume that the teams, which are essentially privately owned for-profit companies, are run and managed with an iron fist. Well, at least as many metallic fists as there are teams. If the board wants to acquire a player badly enough, it will find the financial muscle to get him.
By the same token, if they do not wish to have a particular player on their team, for whatever reason(s), they must surely have the power to refrain from making him an offer.
So I was thoroughly taken aback when I read that the players' union for Major League Baseball is considering slamming various teams for collusion... to keep Barry Bonds out of their roster this year! Read all about it here in this article in the New York Times dated 19 March, 2008. Imagine, here is a self-admitted steroid user who now holds the home run "record". The quotation marks say it all. He holds the record on paper, but it will forever be tainted by his use of performance enhancing drugs. The drug problem is so deep today that it is almost no fun following the game anymore.
Why should players be entitled to astronomical salaries, if there is no market demand for them? Is MLB a communist entity that must ensure that all players, good and bad, cheaters and fighters, must get paid a few million a year to sustain their high-brow lifestyles?
Worse, these cheaters are being shielded and defended by their union! Does anybody know why there should be negotiations for drug testing? When was the last time the International Olympic Committee negotiated to reduce or remove a ban on a player caught using drugs? Still, the American definition of sport involves a lot of marketing jargon, and has nothing to do with ethics or fair play. Give what the crowds want to see. The ball flying out of the ballpark. If the players must inject themselves once in a while, so be it.
The players' union has some guts even to consider the collusion theory, let alone air it in public. In my view, this only strengthens the perception that Bonds is a cheat. I hail the teams that are keeping from making him a gigantic dollar offer. What the sport desperately needs is many more such decisions that will hopefully serve as a deterrent to druggies.
By the same token, if they do not wish to have a particular player on their team, for whatever reason(s), they must surely have the power to refrain from making him an offer.
So I was thoroughly taken aback when I read that the players' union for Major League Baseball is considering slamming various teams for collusion... to keep Barry Bonds out of their roster this year! Read all about it here in this article in the New York Times dated 19 March, 2008. Imagine, here is a self-admitted steroid user who now holds the home run "record". The quotation marks say it all. He holds the record on paper, but it will forever be tainted by his use of performance enhancing drugs. The drug problem is so deep today that it is almost no fun following the game anymore.
Why should players be entitled to astronomical salaries, if there is no market demand for them? Is MLB a communist entity that must ensure that all players, good and bad, cheaters and fighters, must get paid a few million a year to sustain their high-brow lifestyles?
Worse, these cheaters are being shielded and defended by their union! Does anybody know why there should be negotiations for drug testing? When was the last time the International Olympic Committee negotiated to reduce or remove a ban on a player caught using drugs? Still, the American definition of sport involves a lot of marketing jargon, and has nothing to do with ethics or fair play. Give what the crowds want to see. The ball flying out of the ballpark. If the players must inject themselves once in a while, so be it.
The players' union has some guts even to consider the collusion theory, let alone air it in public. In my view, this only strengthens the perception that Bonds is a cheat. I hail the teams that are keeping from making him a gigantic dollar offer. What the sport desperately needs is many more such decisions that will hopefully serve as a deterrent to druggies.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Goodbye, Clarke!
A sad day for the fan of classical science fiction literature. Arthur C. Clarke has passed away. Just a few years ago, I was eating his books for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He, together with Isaac Asimov, remain my favorite authors for sheer imagination and articulation.
While he may be most well-known for his book 2001: A Space Odyssey, I will always remember Clarke's series that bears my name.
While he may be most well-known for his book 2001: A Space Odyssey, I will always remember Clarke's series that bears my name.
Selected works of Arthur C. Clarke
"Prelude to Space" (1951): His first published novel was written in three weeks during the summer of 1947.
"The Sentinel," a short story published in 1951, is among his best-known works. It is about man's contact with sentient life.
"The Deep Range" (1957): With his friend Mike Wilson he filmed the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, from which this novel is derived.
"A Fall of Moondust" (1961): The tale of a marooned moon schooner.
"Dolphin Island" (1963): After being briefly paralyzed by a head injury, Clarke wrote this novel as a farewell to the sea.
"The Treasure of the Great Reef" (1964): A recovered Clarke went on an underwater adventure off Sri Lanka, then wrote this book.
"2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): In the spring of 1964, Clarke started to write a novel about space travel that became the basis for the film. He continued the saga in three sequels, "2010: Odyssey Two" (1982), "2061: Odyssey Three" (1988), and "3001: The Final Odyssey" (1996).
"Rendezvous with Rama" (1973): A research team is sent to investigate a cylindrical object hurtling through the solar system.
"The Hammer of God" (1993): Story of an asteroid hurtling toward Earth anticipated such films as "Deep Impact" (1998) and "Armageddon" (1998).
Source: www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aclarke.htm
"The Sentinel," a short story published in 1951, is among his best-known works. It is about man's contact with sentient life.
"The Deep Range" (1957): With his friend Mike Wilson he filmed the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, from which this novel is derived.
"A Fall of Moondust" (1961): The tale of a marooned moon schooner.
"Dolphin Island" (1963): After being briefly paralyzed by a head injury, Clarke wrote this novel as a farewell to the sea.
"The Treasure of the Great Reef" (1964): A recovered Clarke went on an underwater adventure off Sri Lanka, then wrote this book.
"2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): In the spring of 1964, Clarke started to write a novel about space travel that became the basis for the film. He continued the saga in three sequels, "2010: Odyssey Two" (1982), "2061: Odyssey Three" (1988), and "3001: The Final Odyssey" (1996).
"Rendezvous with Rama" (1973): A research team is sent to investigate a cylindrical object hurtling through the solar system.
"The Hammer of God" (1993): Story of an asteroid hurtling toward Earth anticipated such films as "Deep Impact" (1998) and "Armageddon" (1998).
Source: www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aclarke.htm
Pluck my crwth!
Here is the latest weird word I came across, delivered right to my mailbox by Merriam-Webster's word-of-the-day service:
crwth \KROOTH (rhymes with “booth”)\ noun
crwth \KROOTH (rhymes with “booth”)\ noun
: an ancient Celtic stringed instrument that is plucked or bowed
Example sentence: “He intricately rhymes, to the music of crwth and pibgorn, all night long.” (Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood)
“Crwth” is the Welsh name for an ancient Celtic instrument that is similar to a violin. In Middle English, the instrument’s name was spelled “crouth” before metamorphosing to “crowd,” a word still used in some dialects of England to refer to a violin. The Welsh word can also refer to a swelling or bulging body, and we can speculate that it came to be used for the instrument because of the violin’s bulging shape. Other Celtic words for “violin” also have meanings referring to rounded appearances. In Gaelic, for example, “cruit” can mean “harp” or “violin” as well as “hump” or “hunch.” As a final note, we would like to mention (in case you were wondering) that a pibgorn is an ancient wind instrument similar to the hornpipe; its name comes from the Welsh word “pib,” meaning “pipe,” and “corn,” meaning “horn.
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