I like this!

An article by the Palm Beach Post:

“With an EU passport, I can live and work in 27 countries,” said Suzanne Mulvehill of Lake Worth. “With a U.S. passport, I can live and work in one.”

Americans can claim citizenship in any of the 27 European countries that are in the EU based on the nationality of their parents, or in some cases, grandparents and great-grandparents. Citizenship in one of those countries allows you to live and work in any EU nation.

Since the United States doesn’t keep statistics on dual citizens, it’s impossible to know exactly how many people have applied for citizenship in Europe. But it’s estimated that more than 40 million Americans are eligible for dual citizenship, and a growing number of Americans want to try their luck elsewhere.

I am not 100% sure whether the criteria as described in the box on the left of the article are profoundly researched - anyone who as a proof of German descent, regardless whether it’s on mother of father’s side, can apply for a German passport as far as I know.
Read more.

then Senator Obama would soon move into the White House. An interesting, partially disturbing survey conducted by the British Telegraph revealed that Obama would receive 52%, whereas John McCain would only receive 15% of European votes. Further results of the survey:

A clear majority of Russians - 56 per cent - believe the US is a “force for evil” in the world. In Britain, only 33 per cent see America as a “force for good”. [...]
Meanwhile, Mr Obama, the only consistent opponent of the Iraq war in the race for the presidency, commands a clear lead. He is especially popular in Italy, where a remarkable 70 per cent would vote for him if they could.

In France, historically the European country with the strongest anti-American sentiment, 65 per cent would back Mr Obama. In Germany, the Democratic Senator would get 67 per cent of the vote - while Mr McCain would receive a derisory six per cent. [...]

The Telegraph poll found that Italy has overtaken Britain to become the most pro-American country out of Europe’s four largest nations. Almost half - 49 per cent - of Italians see America as a “force for good” with only 27 per cent believing Washington is a “force for evil”.

- This research, commissioned by Telegraph.co.uk, was carried out online between May 23 and 29 by YouGov plc. The total sample was 6,256 (broken down into Britain 2,241; France 1,005; Russia 1,001; Italy 1,004; Germany 1,005).

The complete article can be found here.

into people who do and people who don’t understand Geek and Poke. Thank you, Oliver Widder, for making my day daily

[This entry is part of Raccoon's Production Design Blog-A-Thon, which began on May 25 and runs through May 25th. Please consider joining us with your own post on the topic.]

Exorcisms continue to fascinate our enlightened age. Even though in real life, we have replaced our demons by terrorists, immigrants or feminists - whatever lends itself to project ‘otherness’ on it -, it seems as if many people enjoy the sight of gooey, exploding bodies of the kind we were able to witness in the 1973 classic The Exorcist.

2005 and 2006 saw the release of two films dedicated to the same tragic case of contemporary exorcism: In 1976 in Bavaria, Anneliese Michel died from hunger, following a months longs exorcism that was performed on her by two catholic priest, at the request and with the consent of her family.* Scott Derrickson’s the The Exorcism of Emily Rose (which I haven’t seen, but have read up upon and then wasn’t keen to watch) is said to be classic Hollywood fare, where the question whether the female lead character is indeed obsessed or just mentally ill is never raised - the demons that allegedly possessed her are even allowed to find incarnation as coherent characters.

Hans-Christian Schmid’s Requiem, by comparison, is a quiet little film that, almost like a documentary, traces the story of Michaela Klinger (this film’s Anneliese Michel) and her attempts to find a place for herself in life when she leaves home for the first time to study theology, and how the mental illness she’s been battling catches up with her, ruining her frail friendships and, with much much aid from her pious family, eventually her health and ends her life.

Requiem does not need any goo or artificial bodily fluids: The entire film is tinted with the patina that we associate with 1970s’ photographs - probably because this is indeed the colour of these photographs, or probably because our media experience has taught us to map aesthetics and memory that way. Production designer Christian M. Goldbeck, who also collaborated with Schmid on Lichter/Distant lights and with Hans Weingartner on the ’smash hit’ Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei/The Edukators, sets the scene for a suffocating trip into the 1970s where the brownish colour of wall-to-wall carpeting seems to smother all of Michaela’s hopes and ambitions.

The only lights that ever seem to enter her world are the pilgrim’s offertory candles - set against the religious backdrop of her family, these lights are no beacon of hope. The brown colours and faded wallpapers of her family home are replaced only by the cork pin-board and fabric wallpaper of a little room in a student dormitory - her plans to escape, as soon becomes manifest, are futile.

The breakfast room of a cheap hotel, where the family stops on one of their pilgrimages (which you can see in this trailer below at minute 1:13-1:16) is the place where her hopes are finally shattered - trapped between cumbersome furniture, Michaela has another psychotic episode; this happening exactly on a pilgrimage, and under they eyes of convinced catholics, seals her doom.

The film hardly ever switches to a brighter colour pattern - even in Michaela’s brief phase of happiness, where she goes to bars and falls in love to the tunes of 1970s’ psychedelic rock, the colours remain pasty, liveless, washed-out. Once she is brought back home, the musty brownish tapestry and furnitures reappear, lock her inside, until her death. ‘Requiem’, instead of going down the splatter path, shows the real horrors of traditional family structures in a part of Bavaria where enlightenment, sexual liberation or the opening of mental wards never took place.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the DVD here, but I tried to find as many screenshots as possible on the web and added some that I took from the trailer. A little more info can also be found on the film’s official website. (images after the jump if you’re coming through my blog homepage)

*) By the way, the difference between the German and the English Wikipedia pages puts me rather off ease: While the German site attempts a balancing of facts, the one in English presents blatant rubbish such as the number of demons she was said to be possessed by on the opening line: …a woman “who was said to be possessed by six or more demons and subsequently underwent an exorcism.” The opener should rather read: a woman “who was killed by the superstition and abuse of her deeply religious family”, if you ask me.

Spoiling a speech by Kremlin critic Gary Kasparov. Hilarious!

Sigrid Jones, who has invited me to join their internet research group which I am VERY much looking forward to, just wrote a very nice article about Lolcats and their misconception as illiterate creatures: lolcat literacy. ‘nough said: Read for yourself

I think I am going to contribute my share by looking at Hans-Christian Schmidt’s Requiem and the way that it selectively confirms and shapes our ‘memory’ of the 1970s, by design.

Lallopallo has tagged me - to maintain our blog friendship, I’ll have to answer his 28 questions (btw, I know that this type of pass-on questions is also referred to as a meme, but is it a meme really? dunno, don’t think so - doesn’t matter).

Here we go (I might choose not to answer if I consider a question to personal):

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?

Gerbert Rappaport’s Čeremuški or Черемушки (a Russian operetta from 1962)

2. What book are you reading?

A reader ‘Old media, new media’ and Weinberger’s Everything is miscellaneous (sporadically)

3. Favorite board game?

Scrabble

4. Favorite magazine?

They all suck.

5. Favorite smells?

The smell of whitewashed walls.

6. Favorite sounds?

Changes. Cute sounds, such as a new message coming in via twhirl

7. Worst feeling in the world?

That people who one loves will be gone forever when they die

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

I’m not able to think when I wake up

9. Favorite fast food place?

Any good kebab shop

10. Future child’s name?

well, it’s definitely not going to be something like Nova Fee Belle, or what people come up with these days

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?

only write

12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

no, but I’d like to blow my nose with stuffed animals

13. Storms - cool or scary?

scary cool, if one is in a safe place

14. Favorite drink?

depends!

15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?

write more

16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?

yes, before it’s cooked

17. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?

orangey red

18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?

Chapeau to lallopallo for being to brave to write them all down - I’m not. It’s likely around 20.

19. Favorite sports to watch?

Football, but only when the European or World Championships are on.

20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?

he must be a smart person, because he changed to wordpress eventually (and then his blog kicked off!)

21. What’s under your bed?

don’t dare to have a look

22. Would you like to be born as yourself again?

sure, if I can keep the wisdom I’ve acquired in this life

23. Morning person, or night owl?

night… owl

24. Over easy, or sunny side up?

scrambled!

25. Favorite place to relax?

nothing specific

26. Favorite pie?

anything from a good Viennese coffee house

27. Favorite ice cream flavor?

yogurt

28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?

I’ll decline - I kind of have the feeling that all the people I know who haven’t been tagged yet are too busy to respond

Are they for real? Is that a stunt from a comedy show? They’re like puppets!