Remembering Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the mysterious circumstances of his death

Which one is your favorite book?

How often did you and do you get inspired by it?

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince
Statue by Christiane Guillaumet, Place Bellecour in Lyon]

As you may know, The Petit Prince is my favorite book. After celebrating Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's birth, today we're talking about this death.

On July 31st, 1944, the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, while being on duty during WWII, left the military base in Naples to carry out a mission in solo flight. He's disappeared with his own plane and his last message was a radio silence.
So the mystery of his vanishing began, while letting generations of fans puzzled about his fate and his death. It was only after almost sixty years, in 2003, that the remains of the aircraft were located and found beyond any doubt and the mystery of his vanishing was partially solved.

Tags: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le petit Prince, The Little Prince, Literature, Death anniversary

What to read next:
Collecting "Le petit Prince" - Why collecting the book is like a big, wonderful game

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!

Where to start, if you are new

From Tesla with love: Jane Brox's book about artificial light

A friend of mine suggested me a new book that I immediately put on my wishlist:

Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light (Hardcover)
by Jane Brox
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010
368 pp., ISBN 978-0547055275

If you want to know something more about electricity, artificial light, home lighting, Thomas Alva Edison and Nikola Tesla, it's the book for you.
I consider Tesla a really incredible 'character'. If you haven't already done so, watch The Prestige by Christopher Nolan! It's a great movie and Tesla is played by David Bowie.

[The Prestige]

Thanks, Faith!

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!

Where to start, if you are new

123 years ago today, the first book in Esperanto has been published!

'Lingvo internacia. Antaŭparolo kaj plena lernolibro' [International Language. Foreword And Complete Textbook], first book in Esperanto written under the pseudonym 'Doktoro Esperanto' by Polish ophthalmologist and philologist L.L. Zamenhof, has been published exactly 123 years ago, on July, 26th 1887.

[L.L. Zamenhof, 1859-1917]

Constructed language created by Zamenhof to promote cooperation and mutual understanding between people speaking different languages, Esperanto has become very 'pop' but unfortunately has never become an international standard. Maybe in the future?

Were Zamenhof's ideas too radical at the time? And now? Was Doktoro Esperanto too idealist?
Do you know some words in Esperanto?

Tags: Esperanto, Anniversary, Languages, International language

Further information:
Esperanto.Net

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!

Where to start, if you are new

You don't need to be a rocket scientist about music to notice that

[A very personal kind of style:
Dear Sirs and Madams, Mr. Richard Ashcroft]

New Kylie Minogue's song sounds so 80s and so Madonna...
New Richard Ashcroft's song sounds so 90s and so Oasis!

Previous post:
Lady Gaga? A huge but

Tags: Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Richard Ashcroft, The Oasis, Music

What if shock advertising would show what we don't want to see? Are you in?

After having the impression that everything has been already seen, showed, tried, experienced, and consumed... 

What can still shock the consumers and the audience?

Shock advertising is usually the answer. The answer most marketers are going to give.

[Domestic violence for a coffee, anyone?

Shock advertising is usually related to a specific culture and time:

what is shocking or gross now, 
could have been socially accepted in the past and viceversa]

What do you think about shock advertising? Does it make you feel uncomfortable or inspired?

Do you find some advertising campaigns interesting, original, funny, ironic? Are they pure genius and are able to start a conversation or are they just gross and unpleasant?

[Advertising promoted by IndyAct.Org

for the "Stop the Carnage" campaign]

Even if not always, I have overall a good opinion about very aggressive advertising campaigns because they force people to reflect on topics and subjects too often forgotten, such domestic violence, children abuse, racism, discrimination, organ donation, endangered species, human and animal rights, pollution and so on.

One of my favorite campaigns ever is a frightful portrait of a French anorexic girl created a couple of years ago by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani:

Google celebrates Austrian/Swedish architect Josef Frank with a colorful Doodle

Google Doodles are almost always very poetic and beautiful and it's a real pleasure to start my 'search engine journey' with something different and unexpected, now and then.

Today Google celebrates Austrian/Swedish architect Josef Frank's 125th birth anniversary [July 15th, 1885] with an explosion of shapes and colors, a Doodle realized by displaying some of the most beautiful creations from Frank.

[Google Doodle for July 15th, 2010
Josef Frank's 125th birth anniversary]

Quotes about cats for cat lovers Feat. Kim Novak - #1. Albert Schweitzer

If I would ask you who Kim Novak is, you would reply that she is a wonderful, sexy and talented Hollywood actress, very popular in the Fifties and the Sixties and also famous for being a total catch and a sex symbol. She is indeed absolutely glamorous and mysterious in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, and so with your answer, you would be right.

[Kim On Blue, 

or why for some reason the paper trash can is so incredibly interesting]

And yet Kim Novak, just 'Kim' for friends, is also my cat. A funny, a little bit crazy and for sure absolutely spoiled black cat that moved to Berlin with me. From now on, she will be featured in a series of posts with quotes for cat lovers.

Es gibt zwei Möglichkeiten, vor dem Elend des Lebens zu flüchten: Musik und Katzen.
(There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life - music and cats)

Albert Schweitzer [1875-1965]

The first quote is a funny one, by Albert Schweitzer, able to recognize that it is not possible to be in a bad mood when cats are around. I always thought that animals can feel how we feel and can adapt to our mood and cats are very good at it.
Just when you are having a very bad day, they come to you and want to cuddle. You have to smile, there is no other choice.

[Kim's name comes from Bell Book and Candle

If you don't know it, you should put it on your list]

Feel free to let me know your favorite quotes for cat lovers in the comments!

Tags: Quotes about cats, Albert Schweitzer, Kim Novak, Cat lovers quotes, Black cats

What to read next:
Is being afraid the easiest thing to do? My cat and Jedi Master Yoda are not on the same page on this one...

Laughing out loud (alone) about...

Something very difficult for me to understand is the Germany's obsession with weather. 'Das Wetter' is the main conversation theme, every day. Particularly in Berlin, where the weather could change even four or five times in a single day, you can always have something to talk about.

Today I was speaking with an Italian friend, trying to explain to him something more about 'das Wetter'. By using this metaphor, I've started to laugh alone at my own words... Disquieting!

[A huge sea of snow for a tiny cute boat:
Snowy Volkspark in Berlin, Kreuzberg]

Summer is like a one night stand. It doesn't last so long, is very intense and powerful and it leaves you sweaty and confused. When you get up and start to understand what's happening, it's already gone for good.
Winter is like a marriage with the wrong person without having the opportunity to divorce. It lasts a time that you consider an eternity, is very unpleasant and exhausting and it leaves you depressed and frozen stiff. When you've already lost any hope, already sure it will last forever, suddenly it's springtime again.

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!

Where to start, if you are new

Gloria Stuart is 100 years old!

[Gloria Stuart, born Gloria Frances Stewart]

In a few words... she's a legend. Period. And not only because of Titanic. James Whale's The Invisible Man, anyone?!
Happy 100th birthday, Gloria!

I'm mad about Mark Twain #4.

[Mark Twain]

Always do right! This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

Mark Twain [pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910]

Sometimes my biggest fear is to not be able to follow this wonderful quote. That I'm not good enough. That I'm not smart enough. That I'm not brave enough.
But I've learned something about fear, something you could consider a cliché if you want, but I consider true: fear keeps you alive. I'm scared. I'm alive.

Previous posts:
I'm mad about Mark Twain #1.
I'm mad about Mark Twain #2.
I'm mad about Mark Twain #3

Tags: Mark Twain, Literature, Fear, People, Quotes

Mood: The Scarlett O'Hara in me (and hopefully in you as well)

Today has not been a good day, so far. And I'm tired and I'm feeling blue and I'm scared. But.

But I'm also a little bit Scarlett O'Hara and tomorrow is going to be another day.

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. [...] After all... tomorrow is another day.

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Gone with the Wind by Victor Fleming (USA, 1939)

I've no doubt about it. And I'm even more a little purple Scarlett after reading this wonderful post by Julien Smith.
He says: If you want to change, create tension.

[Breathtaking and inspiring graffiti art in Berlin
Building in Lychener Straße, Prenzlauer Berg]

Well, I'm changing every day. I'm creating tension. I'm experiencing tension. I'm breathing tension. Maybe today I'm tired to do it, but my lungs are still breathing. And tomorrow is another day.

For me and for you.

Tags: Overcoming bad days, Resilience, Julien Smith, Scarlett O'Hara

What to read next:
"Happiness is made of..." The happiness inventory that should become your new reality check tool, perfect for good as well as for bad days 

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!
Where to start, if you are new

I don't have problems with smoking, and you?

I've talked a little about smoking yesterday.

As you can deduce by reading my post, I don't like smoking.

And I definitely don't like people who literally smoke on my face as this should be normal or kind or just acceptable. If you want to smoke, as far as I'm concerned you're free to do it: it's your body, not mine, and they're your lungs, not mine.

But not on my face. If I would like to smoke, probably I could do it by myself, don't you think? It should be not so hard to understand, maybe. Maybe I'm wrong and it is terribly hard to understand. But as far as I'm concerned... this is not my problem.

Finally, a cinematic tip: Thank You for Smoking by Jason Reitman could be an interesting movie to watch.

Visiting the blog for the first time? Aloha!

Where to start, if you are new

One of the biggest Skype mysteries ever

[While communicating, 

please don't waste other people's time]

In my humble opinion... one of the biggest Skype mysteries ever is why people contact other people on Skype by asking 'How are you?' if they don't really want to wait for the time necessary to get a reply...

Tags: Skype, Skype netiquette, Virtual communication