How Fan Culture Might Save Us All

The minor that I am doing at the moment is called ‘House of the Future’. In it, we had to develop a future-scenario that we presented to our peers and supervisors today.

Needless to say, half of it was pure BS, that one could pull from anywhere, part were impressive presentation techniques (especially the you-tube presentation), part was very uninspired. Our presentation was somewhere in between. While not dull, and quite well thought-out, it was a sad fact that we had a rather unimaginative presentation technique (a couple of cartoons about the developments in the society priorities and how we believe these might shift in the future).

We concluded that the only way to better the state of humankind is to abandon the hedonism and materialism of today’s way of living. This does not mean lowering our standards, but rather admitting that the world is not all about me, me, me; but that there is something more to live for: each other. We gave examples of philanthropists that  are very rich, yet are willing to donate their money and time to good cause. We got as far as naming Bill Gates, who is rich and definitely quite celebre. We also discussed other motives to improve the world, and whether the more classical celebrity’s reason for involvement is relevant to the cause, not to their chosen cause, but rather the cause of bettering humanity and showing us the way.

Does it matter if Angelina adopts just to be in the news? If Madonna has African babies just to feel young? If Bono and Bob Geldof do all their charity work just to sell more records (though I belive that nothing can revive the latter’s career)? What if Bill Gates just wants Microsoft stock to keep its value, and therefore hides its evil corporate face to attract shareholders?

I think, on the whole, the answer is: NO. This might make me seem cynical (perhaps I am), but I believe that this fan culture might just save us all. While we can bitch and moan that there is no more class in Hollywood (remember, you can’t spell ‘class’ without ‘ass’), that all the suitable role models are dead, or turned up to be perverts, in some cases even both.

Nevertheless, I think most young people have their favourite celebrity, and as is often the case, they try to imitate them. Perhaps the way they act, or dress themselves. And while your average Angelina Jolie fan might not go adopting babies all over the world, he or she might be inspired to be a better person, to do better things.

And, due to nature of fandom, we (the fans) often overlook the dark motives of our idols and would only therefore see the thing for what it really is. A celebrity doing something good. Something that ultimately (also) benefits someone else. However, this only applies to fans of that particular celebrity. With some luck though, these others might be fans of some other celebrity who might do good. Can you imagine a whole world full of do-good celebrities, with a huge following of do-good fans. We might just help to save the world.

Naturally, we might argue that celebrities can also inspire us in the “wrong” ways, though I personally find it more unlikely(did you start doing drugs and acting all weird just because you used to like Amy Winehouse?), even more unlikely than being inspired by celebrities in the right way. Or that’s what I hope for.

Peter

PS: The author also commends anyone who does good because they are either nice people, not necessairily inspired by someone who might  be famous. Kudos to y’all.

Life, Art, Whatever… (update)

In a matter of moments, one’s feelings can change from despair to hope. From frustration to some form of happiness and back to frustration again (though for different reasons). Let’s talk about what’s been happening these past few days and weeks.

Firstly, my cousine is trying to go to America far half a year, as a part of some study abroad programme. I have mixed feelings about this. While I cannot resent her for going to the United States (even if I wanted to go there first from my generation), I am actually afraid for her. It strikes me as odd, I always considered her just a kid (though she’s only four years younger), and to see her growing up so quickly… It mightn’t be that she’ll come all grown up, but she’ll certainly be more worldly than any of us. It frightens me, because I am afraid that she won’t need me. Not that we’ve spent that much time together, but I think talking with her has never been just small-talk or some trivial domestic conversations. I’m afraid I will no longer be worth talking to. That she’ll somehow see right through me. That I’m just a self-centered shallow boy, with no real hobbies or anything worth talking about. But I wish her all the best and I hope she’ll take good care of herself (but as Agatha Christie once wrote  ” ‘I can take good care of myself’ should belong to the Great Last Words”).

On the other hand, I’ve been bumping into people this whole time. Apart from Sam’s farewell party, where the bumping into people was not accidental, I managed to see Ying-Ying (twice), Paul and Davide (I don’t count Ines as she’s at the faculty right now, but she’s completely in a different place). Usually on a train station, but no matter…

This evening I said something that really kind of made me think how horribly self-centered I really am. In a casual conversation with my brother, I said I Tube instead of You Tube. Kind of sad, eh…

In other news, other things are going swimmingly. In order to shame my best friend (we decided to stop pretending and drop the ‘ex’ from ‘ex-best friends’), I decided to read more and big, thick books. Even they are architecture books, they’re not the usual ‘lite’ stuff that Taschen likes to publish, with 70% of the content being composed of glossy color photographs. These are real texts with little black and white photographs. And they are also not compulsory, so I consider them something I read voluntarily.

Firstly, I am trying to read the Writings volume by Aldo van Eyck. I’m still on The Child, the Artist and the City (the thinner volume). Sometimes, the text is very well written, but oftentimes, van Eyck is full of big words, complicated grammar, which make him sound smart, but which also makes the whole thing less readable. It’s basically like attacking a carrot with a nuclear bomb, when a simple knife would do. But, I heard that van Eyck, although not-bad, was quite arrogant. I hope the second volume (which comes with a three-and-a-half hours worth of DVD).

Then, I am also trying to read Gideon’s classic Space, Time and Architecture. It’s written in a more accessible style, and while Gideon is somewhat biased and predisposed to Le Corbusier worship (then again, half the architects are), the book reads well and within two days, I managed to read 106 pages out of 881. From van Eyck’s book, I’m now on page 137 after about a week and a half.

Herzog & de Meuron: Natural History has not been opened since the summer, when it seemed the dullest book on earth. Damn it! I paid the money, so I better finish it (or burn it, at least it will keep me warm).

On an unrelated note, we started Form-study. We’ll be asked to design a chair, which is really cool. I mean, If the whole building thing don’t work out, I could always go the Eames way. I already have an idea for a chair, and I even have a name for it, though I will not probably work on it during the lessons (it’s always good to have an extra design up one’s sleeve, even if you won’t really use it).

But before we got to some sweet chair-designing, we’ve been asked to make a collage. What I made wasn’t exactly a collage, they were more like compositions in-on a cardboard. I made three and you should see an evolution. I have a feeling that I might need to part with the first and the smallest one (first one), not because I have to, but because I want to. It could look well on someone’s wall. That someone doesn’t know yet, but I hope they like it when they receive it. Here they are:

Peter S

Incredible Stupidity in the Head 4: Wilders Makes the People Come Apart

Just like any commercially successful film, I go on making sequels. And so after Incredible Stupidity in the Head 1 (neo nazis), 2 (Iran & Venezuela), 3 (Dick Cheney), comes yet another installment. While we can complain that sequels generally suck way more than the original, stupidity seems to be an exception. Just when you think that people cannot possibly come up with anything more dumb, they promptly do… I do not know whether I should laugh or cry.

Mr Wilders, I am afraid to say, has always been high on the potential stupidity list. And while, if we reduce his arguments and interpret them in a more democratic way; we get something like: people who want to live in Holland, should embrace the Dutch culture. If we look at his arguments from a less benevolent standpoint, we see a little muslim-bashing peroxide Hitlerite.

Nevertheless, he’s been long accused of polarizing the Dutch society. Before we get to his ultimate stupidity up to this date, we consider his other activities, such as the film Fitna (go see it on YouTube), his unsuccessful trips to Britain and calling the Koran a fascist book and wanting to ban it (if we were indeed to do this, many other holy books should also be considered ‘fascist’).

Now then, what did Geert Wilders do this time. If he dyed his hair brown, I would applaud him, and not call him stupid. If he came up with a rational argument instead of an emotionally tinted one, I might listen. If he grew a toothbrush moustache, I would be alarmed. But what he just did left me gaping in awe…

Mr Wilders proposed to put a 1000 Euro tax on muslim headscarves. Yes Geert, we get it. You downright hate muslims. It’s OK, there’s therapy for that nowadays. If you’re lucky, the insurance ight pay for it, if not, I gladly will…

But no really, there are several things wrong with this proposal:

1. Wilders argued that he considers headscarves ‘visual pollution’. The same could be said of his peroxide hair, but no-one proposes to ban that.
2. Wilders argued that it’s a symbol of oppression. There are countless other symbols of oppression that are NOT banned, such as horse whips, cages, etc. There is also no extra tax on those
3. Wilders argued that only muslim women should have to pay this tax. Obviously, men don’t wear headscarves. This is therefore a conscious step to oppress women. Secondly, this follows that a woman who is not a muslim can wear a headscarf without the tax.  This poses a problem. My great-grandmother used to wear a headscarf, not because she was muslim (she was German), but because it was a bit of a tradition for old women (esp widows) to wear headscarves. And then, a woman could always LIE and say: ‘I used be a muslim, but now I just want to wear a headscarf ‘cos it looks really cool’. No one can prove otherwise, unless the national police will spy on these persons and see them walking into a mosque.

Therefore, Wilders must have known that such a ridiculous idea would be ridiculed. No sane person can honestly believe in a headscarf-tax would solve any problems of any modern society. Although I believe it to be a little more than a publicity stunt, I think that the suggestion itself, and even the smallest hope that someone would actually buy it is very stupid. Incredibly so…

Peter S

Welcome to Soviet Union, basterd!!!

I once wrote a short story with this title, but the story, like many other things, is lost in some computer-version Narnia, where all the things that are lost when a PC needs to be rebooted go. Curses and drat! For the Mac lovers, don’t think you’ve got my approval. I was once began writing this short-story trilogy about a middle-aged Moscow prostitute and when I had the first part ready, a friend of mine touched the computer, which subsequently crashed and my budding masterpiece was never seen again. Oh boo hoo!

But this is not about my (perhaps non-existent) literary abilities. This is about the fact that the “greatest country in the world”, the “shining beacon of freedom” (also called the “Zionist devil” by Ahmadinejad or “Imperialist devil” by Chavez) is not always what it seems. I will not agree that USA is 100% good stuff, and I will certainly not agree with Chavez or Ahmadinejad, I merely wish to state some curiosities that struck me.

Do you remember the first time you saw a teenage movie? Not the early ones, I mean the hardcore-commercialism of the later ones. How the cheerleaders are always skanks? How the smart kids are always spotty, tuck in their checkered shirts and wear glasses that could have been barely considered fashionable in the fifties? How the awkward girl is actually really hot, but you could never see that because she dresses very badly and her hair is a mess (because her mother died, her father is a drunken alcoholic and her brother a filthy horny little boy). Do you remember that at the parties, people barely drink, because their lips are locked about 90% of the time? And when they do drink, they start dancing modern jazz on top of a table that is quite stable?

Well, my experience has been quite limited, but the glimpses that I got differed quite a lot from the movies. I thought it’s because the movies just exaggerate for dramatic purpose, to be more shocking and thus attract their target audience.But I might have been wrong…

In all the American teenage films, the house party guests use red plastic cups. I though it was just one of those nerd-spotty associations (house party-red cups). But recently, I saw a photo of a friend who actually lives in America and has a social life. Therefore, she goes to a party at which that particular photo was taken. Guess what she had in her hand. A red plastic cup…

Is this what capitalism has brought, one universal cup, from film parties to real parties. I know in Europe we have a choice between clear plastic and white plastic, which is 2 to 1. So either America suffers from worse mass-standardization that “Socialist” Europe or perhaps even the Soviet Union, rr, the most horrifying of all, all those house school stereotypes have been confirmed by the evidence of the identical real-life party cup.

Welcome…

Peter S.

P.S.: Obviously, this should not be taken as something that I actually believe, it’s just fun thinkin’ crazy this way .

Paris – Guernsey – London

This was finally something rather large that I did for myself. If you think about it, an expensive book is only as big as a book, but this was a big trip that lasted for two weeks that I undertook on my own, by myself, with me. There was no-one else whining about anything, which means I did not have to whine about anything.

It all began with this blog really. I laid down my plans, did a preliminary budget and told my family I will NOT be helping them do all those silly things in the summer, like making jam, collecting fruit, chopping wood and all that nonsense that is we used to do. I also told them, that owing to my work obligations, I will not join them in Croatia for their annual week of tanning and ice-cream eating.

I was going to Paris, the grand old capital of Food and Wine. Still one of the most beautiful cities in the world (minus its suburbs). Paris was great. I think the whole tourist thing suddenly mattered because I speak very little French. But still. I had dinners in Fancy restaurants, went to world-class museums, saw Villa Savoye, visited Versailles. The best part was the free part. In France, for a reason I cannot yet explain, all EU citizens under 26 had free access to Louvre, Versailles, even the villa. How awesome is that? It saved some money that I then spent on fine dining.

Yet, though the dining was fine, it was not ideal. Once I had a peculiar side-dish containing all of my “favourite” vegetables. A roast tomato laced with courgette and aubergine. Yet I still have fond memories of the time I went to the local supermarket and bought a baguette, a can of white beans in tomato sauce, some yoghurt and one and a half litre of apple juice.

The journey from Paris to Guernsey was just as incredible. I went first class on the TGV (second class all sold out), then took a regional train and then a ferry to Guernsey which was hellish. Rain and huge waves. The British Channel island welcomed me with typical British weather.

But still, the food (especially the breakfast) was very satisfying, the whole island was so genuine and yet incredibly beautiful. There are simply no other words for it. The nature, the town, the sea, the countryside. Everything seems to work there. The weather remained fine, though I did not go swimming, because I am not accustomed to the milder temperatures on the beach (the natives did not mind though). I did not see everything, but I left with a feeling that I will return, simply because it was such a perfect place. Maybe because it wasn’t trying to be perfect. The concrete German bunkers and outposts (from WW2) have certain aesthetic qualities… Germans return to this day, but as tourists.

London was… Londons. While there is only one Paris, there are many Londons. The tube is quite something. More expensive than Parisian Metro, but nicer. Crowds near the Buckingham Palace were horrendous. Even Versailles seemed less crowded, though of course, Versailles is way larger. The weird thing about London are the contrasts. Tiny medieval Churches in the City are dwarfed by modern glass towers. Some galleries are free, the other attractions are fatally overpriced. The Royal family doesn’t use half its crowns. Prince Charles lives down the street from a Brutalist masterpiece. The audiences are stilled willing to see the Mousetrap, even though the mystery has been solved 57 years ago.

So that was my vacation. I had fun. I saw low culture. I saw masterpieces. I sent postcards. I dined by myself. I enjoyed the weather. I took the bus, I took the underground, I took the train, I took the plane. I visited grand palaces of bygone age. I saw icons of contemporary architecture. Yet, I might have missed something.

You?

Peter S

Limbo Abolition Research Society

I am not completely out of ideas, most of my ideas, however, are either not fully formed, forgotten, or unworthy of this blog (which I have treated most unfairly lately).

While I won’t sink as low as to recycle my old material, I have decided to maybe do some short pieces of creative writing, comic book/movie idea (together with my brother), or just something very silly. To bemoan my life is rather passe, and doing it won’t help very much either. So I’m kin-of stuck, but I might even surprise myself if I ever get my act together (that is writing, NOT my life).

This time I would like to ‘muse’ about Limbo Abolition Research Society. Naturally, we all know what Limbo is, but in order to stretch this insult of an entry, I will explain. Limbo is, in short, the place where all the unbaptised babies (but also good non-believers) go after death, that is if you believe the Christian version of “What happens after you die”.

While some of us frankly don’t give a fuss, many a Christian parent are worried about the soul of their child and that is why children are baptized ASAP. But then, it sometimes happens that a child has the misfortune to die before being baptized. This is in itself rather unpleasant (not only for the child, but also the family, I should imagine). Limbo is probably not as good as heaven when it comes to soul-inhabitation.

Now then, the Church hold no real position on limbo (which is weird for an organisation which holds positions left, right and center). It just hopes that some of the soul of infants make it to heaven (considering that they have at least two sins- one of them being the Original, the other physical pain inflicted upon the mother- but that is a theory of my own. I know that God caused pain at childbirth after Adam and Eve partook from the apple, but perhaps he killed two birds with one stone: inflicting pain on the ‘evil’ woman, and therefore making sure that the child is born causing pain, therefore adding an extra sin to its short list of sins, in order to justify the existence of Limbo). Now, somewhere I read that the issue is being looked at intensively. How does the working day at the Limbo Abolition Research Society (LARS) look like?

I always imagined monks in a dark room at a table getting terribly drunk, occasionally writing a memo to their superiors on the latest development (as in “It looks like it could be Heaven”, or “Limbo’s existence brought into question by brother Mark”) only to return to their wine. It seems that I was wrong, and that even the Church operates within (its own kind of) logic. I learned that the poor souls at LARS read long texts by various saints, popes and holy men (in some cases mutually exclusive). But, because the Church never had a real position on this, and all those holy writers wrote done what they believed was right, and no-one really said: “so-and-so is wrong in this case, this is the truth (so sayeth the ruler of Bethos)”. This would at lead to two things. Either parents whose infants die would be glad that their baby is now with God, or in case of babies not being allowed into heaven, this could lead to a pre-birth baptism, which sounds kinda cool (I mean, if the Church states that the a fertilized egg is a human with full human rights, why should it not be baptized as a human).

Now then, to anyone who might be a little shocked, I am indeed being very satirical, sarcastic, cynical, but I do think that to keep many people in mourning over Limbo, when it would be quite easy to relieve the stress and help even a little bit those  families at their most difficult and challenging times is quite abominable. Especially when all you need to say is a couple of words to ease the pain.

On an unrelated note, here’s a little aphorism which I though quite amusing:

“The bereaved had never any doubts about their dear ones’ wishes and those wished usually squared with their own inclinations”

Agatha Christie, from Mrs McGinty’s Dead

So, another mystery solved by your trusty Peter S. LOL