Cogs can think.

Several times on my blog, I’ve tried to explain what it is that ties me so deeply to my hometown -why don’t I move to Amsterdam like many of my friends? Regular readers will know why - I prefer the peace, calm, quiet, and… ‘Conservativeness’ of the countryside. In addition to all that, there’s another reason… Just look at it. Ain’t she pretty?

The Warmenhuizen sessions.

Twelve photos I shot today in my hometown. As always, unedited.

The day hasn’t even been cut in half, but I can already discard it as the year’s most useless day ever.

It all started yesterday. I was shopping in Big City Alkmaar (is there any way of saying that without it sounding girly?), but on the way, I already felt my insides going mental. I immediately realised I was developing yet another nasty intestinal infection. Despite the pain, I continued to buy the things I needed (two new pair of jeans, The Boss’ “The River” on CD, and a gift for a friend’s birthday).

When I got home, I needed to cook - but sadly, I could barely eat a thing of it. Yesterday eve at work went pretty much fine, and later that evening, I got hungry and ate a few slices of bread.

This morning, I felt not too bad. Had my usual good breakfast, but even before I reached work, I already felt like a piece of crap, and that continued at work - I got dizzy, felt extremely weak, and developed a fever. For the first time since, well, ever, I had to leave work sick. I really, really, really hate that.

And just when I thought the day was getting better, laying my sick behind down on the couch, the doorbell rings. “Can we talk to you about the bible, god, and natural disasters? Many blame god for them, but if you read the bible, it’s actually different!”

Please. Don’t. Really, don’t.

Played with the new iMac for a while today at the Apple store (well, premium reseller, same thing).

Damn, that’s one sexy piece of engineering. I need to find a method to get rich fast.

This is Dutch documentary maker Sunny Bergman.

She made a documentary called “Beperkt Houdbaar“, a tag which you generally find on food products that you can only store for a few days. It’s the Dutch equivalent of the English “perishable” (thanks, Adam). This film deals with the pressure exerted by society and the media on women and girls to conform to a beauty standard - a beauty standard that does not exist, generally referred to as “The Playboy Look”. Sunny takes on cosmetic/plastic surgery and the photoshopping of models in all sorts of magazines.

The film is extremely unnerving, it makes you feel very uneasy - and a few times it even made me nauseous. The most… Unnerving, but at the same time touching scene is when Sunny goes for a consult at a very famous American plastic surgeon. While carrying the camera in her hand, filming her image in the mirror, she has her entire body examined by the surgeon - including her butt, her breasts, and even her vagina. The surgeon goes on and on, listing all the things that are wrong with her - and the costs of the various surgeries. Too much fat here, uneven this there, her vagina is wrong, her arms are wrong, her hips are wrong, everything’s wrong. All this time, she keeps on filming her reflection in the mirror.

When the surgeon leaves, she keeps on filming - she’s just standing there, camera on her shoulder, filming her reflection. For a few moments, she’s frozen. She doesn’t move, doesn’t twitch. And then, she moves her hand to her face, and gently wipes two tears from her eyes with her index finger. Then she says: “Somewhere, I did hope he would just say: ‘you’re beautiful, there’s nothing to be done about you’.”

And as a viewer, on the edge of your seat, you cringe. As a guy, even a slight feeling of guilt arises.

The documentary caused a reasonable stir in my country. Politicans are advocating a minimum age for cosmetic surgery patients, and Sunny herself has enacted two badges - “Photoshop Free” and “Photoshopped”. Various magazines in my country have joined this initiative, and will now print these badges if they do or do not photoshop the women/men in their pictures (excl. advertisements). Even Playboy said they would join the initiative, but backed out of it at the last moment.

I never realised photoshopping was so abundant - and I didn’t even know how easy it was to completely transform how people look on photos. I always was under the impression that they removed some cellulite here, a pimple there - but in fact, everything everywhere in a lot of magazines is photoshopped. Almost nothing is real anymore.

An eye opener. Watch this documentary. It will change the way you look at, well, everything. Sadly, in Dutch.

Just for fun, I took the American political test thing Adam and Eugenia also took, and, surprise surprise, I’m apparantly a Democrat. No shit, seeing I consider the death penalty barbaric, civilian gun possesion idiotic, gay marriage a definite must for a modern society, and so on.

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D) 92.00% match
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) - 70.67%
Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) - 70.67%
New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) - 68.00%
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) - 68.00%
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D) - 62.67%
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden (D) - 60.00%
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) - 52.00%
Texas Representative Ron Paul (R) - 40.00%
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) - 28.00%
Arizona Senator John McCain (R) - 25.33%
Businessman John Cox (R) - 21.33%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) - 17.33%
Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson (R) - 13.33%
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) - 12.00%
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) - 10.67%
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo (R) - 10.67%
California Representative Duncan Hunter (R) - 6.00%

But darn, 40% match with a Texan Republican? Oh noes!!1!

You’re losing a friend
You got it all wrong
It’s not about revenge
But you’re losing a friend
I didn’t see it coming
With my head stuck in the sand
But now I’m loosing a friend

And it’s keeping me up
It’s the ribbons I tied
I would rather just die
Go to hell and crawl back
Than let you go

You’re losing a friend
You jeopardise me
Bad bad blood on your hands
And see, you’re losing a friend
I’m fickle and I’m vain
And you trick me over and over again
And now I’m losing you

And it’s killing me
It’s the strings that I tie
I would rather just die
Go to hell and crawl back
Then let it all go

My mistake
To lose you

Oh no, oh no!
So this the end now
I’m losing you
Oh, look at you!
Look what you’re wasting
You’re losing a friend
Oh no, oh no!
I’m losing a friend
Oh, oh oh no

American McGee.

As weird as it may seem, that’s actually a real name (“My mom was a hippie. I’m not sure how else to put that…”). American McGee is a game developer - and the man behind one of the most beautiful and weirdest-looking games ever made: American McGee’s Alice.

In this game, we see an older Alice, about 17-18 years old. When she was 8, right after “Through The Looking Glass” (Lewis Carrol’s 2nd Alice book), her parents are killed in a fire. Alice blames herself, and enters a state of catatonia - after which she is admitted to an asylum. The game starts with Alice receiving an alarming distress call from Wonderland - she follows Rabbit down the Rabbit hole, and is greeted, as to be expected, by the Cheshire Cat. Wonderland itself - completely fcuked up. There’s no other way to put it. When Alice went crazy, her imaginary world - Wonderland - reflected that change. It is now up to her to restore Wonderland to its original form.

As some of you may recall, I’m a huge fan of Carrol’s original Alice books. Forget the crap Disney made, as the original Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland bare little resemblance to Disney’s children’s adaption. The Carrol books are filled with weird quotes, adult insinuations, and other strangeness. They are real pageturners, despite being marketed as children’s books.

Anyway, American McGee’s creation was also destined for the white screen. It took years, with many rumors surfacing, but now, it seems as if the film is finally on-track for a 2008 release. The film will star Sarah Michelle Gellar as Alice, and seeing this picture of Sarah, it doesn’t seem like too odd a choice.

I’ve been a fan of the game since it came out, and the last few days, have been playing it again. I have been hoping for a film for ages, so seeing it all on-track is good news.