Overheard in Amsterdam

We now take you to the Frisbee field in South Amsterdam, for another scene proving what a wonderfully international place this can be. – Cut to: The Frisbee Fields in Amsterdamse Bos.. where Blue Steel is taking on the Crazy Purple Grapes. Bicyclemark and a new guy are standing on the sidelines waiting to sub in on the next point. The new guy turns and asks in Dutch:

So where are you from originally?

BM, in my usual confusing style: Oh Im Portuguese but I’m American.. spent most of my life in the US.

Guy on sideline says: Oh, I know how it is. I don’t have any Dutch blood, but I’ve lived here all my life. Im adopted from Sri Lanka, me and my two brothers when we were babies. But I guess I’m Dutch, according to my passport.

BM: Wow, Sri Lanka.. the Netherlands… thats a good life story.

GoS: I guess so, I don’t remember any of it.

Team captain: Yo guys, you’re in!

And so it goes in this international game they call ultimate frisbee.

Oh Kanzler

Our wacky german neighbors are having elections. And I just love when it’s election time in the .de. Not only because I think it’s an extremely interesting and fairly healthy democratic system, but because it brings back memories of me and my buddy… Koblenz’s Martin G.. when we first arrived at University in Amsterdam and I’d wonder down to his apartment on election night.

Mart’s place was excellent for election coverage; he would translate the ARD or the ZDF TV coverage, and describe the dry style of the reporter. Then we’d do our own news and political analysis – being the european communications scholars that we were are. All this while eating the darkest of chocolate and sipping what I believe to have been fine whiskey. Sound high class? Well that’s what politics is all about, the allocation of scarce resources for international students to sit on their lazy asses and ponder the future of the world.

So by the time you read this you’ll probably know more about the confusing result. As I watch the results coming in on the german public tv… I miss my buddy mart.. who I can just picture is sitting right now in his stockholm apartment, watching the results with some dark chocolate within reach.

bicyclemark67_050917

Oil, Shell, Nigeria, and Struggle: The story of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the people of the Niger Delta.

AudioCommunique #67(mp3)
27min+, 64kbps, 13Mb+

In 1995 a Nigerian author and playright, Ken Saro-Wiwa was murdered along with his fellow activists, following years of resistance and struggle against the oil companies that were destroying their land and killing their community. This podcast is just a little reminder of that story, that is long from over, especially when so many fret about the price of oil.

I mention: Project Underground, Shell Press Releases, Democracy Now.

Music includes:

Tower of Power – Only so much oil in the ground
Fela Kuti – Who are you?
Bill Frisell – Baba Drame
Billy Bragg – Price of Oil
Richard Bona– Muna Nyuwe

V is for Vlog

With all the issues of concern in the world, I haven’t spoken of the ‘dam lately….

A cold wind has blown in from the North Sea, and brought that familiar fall rain with it. Moreover, it has brought Madge Weinstein and the Vlog Europe conference to town, which means it is garunteed to be an interesting few days.

For those who don’t know, a Vlog is a Video blog. Sound strange? Well you’re reading a blog, which is text, you listen to podcasts which are audio, and just imagine clicking on a video and watching me tell you all this while I look you in the eyes. It’s a all related; grassroots, personal media, in all its imperfections and honesty. I myself don’t Vlog yet, but never say never, and the conference brings up lots of good points about citizen journalists and the future where we will all consult video blogs regularly. (which of course, you can start doing now!)

If you’re interested, I recommend the following two tools, of which I met the creators today and one of them knew exactly who I was from my podcasts.. yay! So.. first there’s MeFeedia an excellent tool for finding vlogs and watching them. And then there’s FireAnt, another tool for finding and watching video on the net. Keep in mind, I recommend them, but Ive never really used them… but I will!

In the meantime I’m very much enjoying riding around Amsterdam with Madge. Despite her obescity, she’s able to get around on a special bike with re-enforced tires. I even find her complaining about her thighs rubbing together as she pedals, charming.

And that’s just how it goes in Amsterdam sometimes. You meet interesting people from all over the world. Some who live here… some who are just passing through.

World Bank What

I’ve got some world bank people reading this here blog, which is good, because there are no sacred cows here — it’s time to tear into the WB. Specifically there “Doing Business 2006” report which just came out with rankings for what countries are “best” for doing business. Immediately this begs the question — what is good business?

This because for me… the keeping the costs of HIRING and FIRING employees low is NOT a measure of success. Neither is having few tax requirements for corporations. They even have a topic “dealing with liscenses”, as if to say the laws and regulations devised by elected representatives of citizens are somehow… a nuissance. Who knew the WB had gone full-on libertarian?

But lets go to the rankings, shall we…

Hiring and Firing Top 5:

1. Palau
2. Tonga
3. Hong Kong
4. new zealand
5. Maldives

So.. consider moving there because you’ll easily get a job and then lose it just as easily. yay!

Dealing With Liscences Top 5:
1. Palau
2. New Zealand
3. Micronesia
4. Marshall Islands
5. Japan

Hooray… less hassle with those annoying “liscences” for these countries.

And finally for today, The Burden of Paying Taxes Top 5:
1. Maldives
2. Hong Kong
3. Iraq
4. Oman
5. Saudi Arabia

See… no need to pay taxes.. fuck the building of infastructure and needs of citizens..

Thanks Paul Wolfowitz, for your keen business sense and cold hard facts.

bicyclemark66_050914

Remembering Sept. 11th and whats happenned since…. with D-Rock in DC..

AudioCommunique #66(mp3)
32min+, 64kbps, 14Mb+

Although it might be cliché the way Sept. 11th is talked about in media circles, this is an oral history based on how it was lived by my buddy D-Rock in Washington, DC. The first person to call me that morning and tell me what was going on across the Hudson River.

Topics:
The morning of
The hysteria and bogus stories
Patriot Act and Patriot II
Torture
The fact that this movement of Neo-cons is not as unbeatable as people say

Music Includes:

Bruce Springsteen-My City in Ruins (The Rising)
Steve Earle – John Walker Blues (Jerusalem)
Talib Kweli-Talib Kweli – The Proud (Quality)
Tori Amos I can’t see NY (Scarlet’s Walk)
Victor Jara – El Drecho de viver en paz