Archive for August, 2006

Date: August 30th, 2006
Cate: Blogs
2 msgs

New Link

I know it is a poor excuse for a post but I have added a new blog to my blog role.

That said I’ve no idea what it is like but it is the blog of someone I met here in Dublin the other day. We went on a day trip to Kilkenny together.

So I give you: Steal this Moment, live from Philadelphia.

I’m sure my blog role needs considerable updating but I’ve hardly had a chance to check them while I’ve been away. One of the things I’ll have the pleasure of doing once I get home. Hopefully my favourite blogs haven’t disappeared though.

Date: August 18th, 2006
Cate: Travel
7 msgs

…write more they say…

  • Beer has wheat in it right? So can people with celiacs drink beer. This disorder could be more serious than I had initially thought.
  • Travelators: I’ve got a plan but I just need a renewable energy supply.
  • Warm beer isn’t as horrible as it sounds.
  • It takes 22 years of military service, certain honours and to rise to the rank of Sergeant Major to become a Yeoman Warders (or Beefeater) and all you do is take people on guided tours of the Tower of London. Hardly seems worth it really.
  • The Beatles first played at the Cavern Club. The thing is that there are two Cavern Club’s and they are litterally across the road (or small lane way as the case my be) from each other. Who do they think they a fooling?
  • Despite the current situation in Israel, walled cities are very cool.

Today is the falf way point of my trip, shed a tear for me my friends, it feels like I’ll be home tomorrow.

Date: August 3rd, 2006
Cate: Travel
6 msgs

…and a couple of photos

I was asked to post a couple of social photos so here goes:

Chris who took wonderful care of me in Rome (enjoying a Pizza and the World Cup):

Mimmo on a boat in Venice:

My Finnish mate in Prague (Meeko) who I met in Vienna:

On a roof top in Berlin:

After a night on the town with Tilman in Hamberg:

Mr and Mrs Sharp in London:

…and just in case you were wondering I’m currently in London with Mr and Mrs Sharp.

Date: August 3rd, 2006
Cate: Politics, Travel

Singularities

…That is the power of Eurocentrism.

India, however, is not merely different from Europe. India (and every local reality within India) is singular – not different from any universal standard but different in itself. If the first Italian writer could free himself of Europe as standard he could grasp the singularity. This singularity does not mean, however, that the world is merely a collection of incommunicable localities. Once we recognise singularity, the common begins to emerge. Singularities do communicate, and they are able to do so because of the common they share. We share bodies with two eyes, ten fingers, ten toes; we share life on this earth; we share capitalist regimes of production and exploitation; we share common dreams of a better future. Our communication, collaboration, and cooperations, furthermore, not only are based on the common that exists but also in turn produce the common. We make and remake the common we share every day. If the second Italian writer could free himself of Europe as standard, he could grasp this dynamic relation of the common.

Here is a non-Eurocentric view of the global multitude: an open network of singularities that links together on the basis of the common they share and the common they produce. It is not easy for any of us to stop measuring the world against the standard of Europe, but the concept of the multitude requires it of us. It is a challenge. Embrace it.

Hardt and Negri, Multitude (128-129:2004)

Date: August 3rd, 2006
Cate: Travel

Not sure if you’d call them insights…

..but here we go again (see what happens with a little positive reinforcement):

  • Why would Pulp Fiction lie to me? Royale with Cheese my arse.
  • Speaking of which, did you know that pot is illegal in Amsterdam (and the rest of the Netherlands)?
  • Australia is massively over regulated
  • German toilets…
  • When traveling it is easy to take a random sample of one and assume this is the norm. This can be problematic
  • Lonely Planet: probably the worst book ever written but strangely comforting
  • Fat Germans are worse than fat Americans, you’re just much more likely to see a fat American as a tourist.
  • German women have particularly striking features, sometimes to the point where they look like men. Does that sound gay?
  • I’ve often wondered if insects have lungs. Little help…
  • You really don’t see too many machine guns in Australia do you.