Author: JH

For better or worse, a considerable chunk of my life is tied to academia. For me, this Monty Python philosophy world cup soccer video is as close as anybody has ever come to an accurate portrait of it.

While Monty Phython, for dubious reasons, lets the Germans loose this one, I have always (again, for dubious reasons?) admired the following quote by Maggie Thatcher on soccer and the Germans: “You may beat us at our favorite game every time, but twice in a century we beat you, at your favorite game.”

And further on admiration: “War All The Time” is the title of a poem by Charles Bukowski, about his mailman being somewhat startled at finding the author in his garden, watering the plants. Bukowski looks up and casually remarks: “Well, as you see, it’s not war all the time…”. Somehow, that spoke to me.

A funny read from last week, in case you missed it: “Stock Imagery Takes A Turn” (via Andy Goetze). While not exactly about “imagery”, the article indulges in the latest round of image licensing smart talk. Here’s a banal thought: While all the different licensing models discussed in that article are good, not all licensing models discussed in that article are good for everybody. Or was that what the Dalai Lama said about Buddhism?

Not all is all that bad with image licensing though. Be greeted from the slopes of the Italian Alpery.

(These are from a new series I’m working on. More soon.)

Old journalist joke: When you travel by plane and look at the people traveling with you, it becomes obvious why all hijackers let their hostages go at some point…

I hear that Gursky is now driving a Ferrari. While I’m not yet at the right age for that kind of toy, there are moments when I want to have a private jet. It should make buzzing off to my much deserved winter break in the Dolomites much more fun. Last night, it was economy class all the way to Europea.