2007-06-27
Emoticars
The revelation of the face makes a demand. The face-to-face, the encounter with another, is a privileged phenomenon. Levinas teaches us that we are most human in the encounter with the Other. But what happens when we sit in a car? We are armored. We don't see the face of the other. The other doesn't see our face. We can't smile. We can't wink. We can't even give an angry look. We are not there. The other is not human anymore.
So, wouldn't life be much better if a car could express emotion? Imagine a car that senses our emotion and smiles, or winks, or frowns. It could swing a little on a happy song when we're happy. Or even better, it would even smile at us when we are sad to make us happy again.
Really with emoticars our life would be much better. A traffic jam would be less boring. It would be a social gathering with smiles and gestures. Less aggression on the roads. More relaxed people.
So, wouldn't life be much better if a car could express emotion? Imagine a car that senses our emotion and smiles, or winks, or frowns. It could swing a little on a happy song when we're happy. Or even better, it would even smile at us when we are sad to make us happy again.
Really with emoticars our life would be much better. A traffic jam would be less boring. It would be a social gathering with smiles and gestures. Less aggression on the roads. More relaxed people.
2007-06-23
Rumpelstiltskin
Once upon a time, when kings were still kings and dwarfs were dwarfs, when good and bad was obvious, then the fairy tales were simple. But alas, those times are gone. In our postmodern time things are less simple. Let’s take a simple fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin. Let me give you a very short summary.
Long ago there was a miller who told the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king wanted to marry her if she really could. Of course she couldn’t. But as usual in fairy tales the (un)expected creature, a dwarf, appears and turns the straw into gold. However, his price is her first born child. After her marriage to the king and after the birth of her child the dwarf returns. She can only save her child if she guesses his name. At the end she discovers his name is Rumpelstiltskin and they live happily ever after.
Times have changed. How can such a fairy tale be updated to version 2.0 or 2007? We don’t believe in dwarfs anymore. So, who is going to turn the straw into gold? What about this version?
The king enters a village and sees a pretty girl. He starts to flirt with her. A moment later he encounters a miller who lies that his daughter can spin gold out of straw. The king says he’s going to marry her if it’s true otherwise they will both go to prison. Then he discovers that the pretty girl is the miller’s daughter. He knows that the miller was lying. How’s he going to save her? He locks her up into his castle with a pile of straw. At night he disguises himself as a dreadful creature, goes to her room and tells he can turn the straw into gold if she gives him her first born child. [Gold enough! Who cares about another lie?] A nice reflection in the story: the creature wants to have straw instead of gold, because gold is cold and straw keeps you warm.
The girl marries the king and they get a child. The young mother however is very scared that the creature will return. And the king is upset, because she lied to him about the gold and did not tell about the creature. Then she’s tells the truth to her dad, the miller. The miller goes to the king to explain what happened and ask for help. Of course the king cannot reasonably belief the story of a creature turning straw into gold. He tells the miller that he’s a liar and is going to arrest him. Then the miller discovers that the king must be the creature. Finally, the king admits and together they make up a plan. The king will disguise again as the creature and ask for the child. She can save it if she guesses his name. The miller prompts the name to his daughter. The creature disappears. So, in the end they still live happily ever after.
Nice rewrite, nice turns, isn’t it? Good and bad isn’t that obvious. A little lie here another lie there. This all just happens because king and creature are turned into one person. Little change, large effect.
Of course I did not work out this story. I’m not that creative. This version has been written by the creative people of Xynix. They made a libretto on music by Händel, turning the whole into a wonderful and humoristic opera. Unfortunately they have already revised their website that contained some nice pieces out of the opera ‘Gold’ http://www.xynixopera.nl/2004/xynixopera/xynixopera.html
Long ago there was a miller who told the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king wanted to marry her if she really could. Of course she couldn’t. But as usual in fairy tales the (un)expected creature, a dwarf, appears and turns the straw into gold. However, his price is her first born child. After her marriage to the king and after the birth of her child the dwarf returns. She can only save her child if she guesses his name. At the end she discovers his name is Rumpelstiltskin and they live happily ever after.
Times have changed. How can such a fairy tale be updated to version 2.0 or 2007? We don’t believe in dwarfs anymore. So, who is going to turn the straw into gold? What about this version?
The king enters a village and sees a pretty girl. He starts to flirt with her. A moment later he encounters a miller who lies that his daughter can spin gold out of straw. The king says he’s going to marry her if it’s true otherwise they will both go to prison. Then he discovers that the pretty girl is the miller’s daughter. He knows that the miller was lying. How’s he going to save her? He locks her up into his castle with a pile of straw. At night he disguises himself as a dreadful creature, goes to her room and tells he can turn the straw into gold if she gives him her first born child. [Gold enough! Who cares about another lie?] A nice reflection in the story: the creature wants to have straw instead of gold, because gold is cold and straw keeps you warm.
The girl marries the king and they get a child. The young mother however is very scared that the creature will return. And the king is upset, because she lied to him about the gold and did not tell about the creature. Then she’s tells the truth to her dad, the miller. The miller goes to the king to explain what happened and ask for help. Of course the king cannot reasonably belief the story of a creature turning straw into gold. He tells the miller that he’s a liar and is going to arrest him. Then the miller discovers that the king must be the creature. Finally, the king admits and together they make up a plan. The king will disguise again as the creature and ask for the child. She can save it if she guesses his name. The miller prompts the name to his daughter. The creature disappears. So, in the end they still live happily ever after.
Nice rewrite, nice turns, isn’t it? Good and bad isn’t that obvious. A little lie here another lie there. This all just happens because king and creature are turned into one person. Little change, large effect.
Of course I did not work out this story. I’m not that creative. This version has been written by the creative people of Xynix. They made a libretto on music by Händel, turning the whole into a wonderful and humoristic opera. Unfortunately they have already revised their website that contained some nice pieces out of the opera ‘Gold’ http://www.xynixopera.nl/2004/xynixopera/xynixopera.html
2007-06-19
Inspiring and entertaining
Since last week nothing around me is safe any more. I’ve started tapping on everything. Every object has its own sound. There is rhythm everywhere. You just have to listen. And I listened to and watched STOMP. These guys are great. Watch this:
Basketball and kitchen,
Floating metal drummers,
Pail drummers,
Waterphonics,
Brooms,
Many other things...
Basketball and kitchen,
Floating metal drummers,
Pail drummers,
Waterphonics,
Brooms,
Many other things...
