Ioanes Resl

There are little ways not to know Michael Bay when you are into mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. You may not remember his name but you definitely have seen at least some of the cinematographic sceneries he created for various movies – all of which are prone to a certain bellicose tendency.
His newest brainchild is part two in the Transformer franchise: Revenge of the Fallen. The story behind it is told fast. After the AllSpark is destroyed an alliance of Transformers and men battle against the last pockets of resistance of Decepticons who hide on Earth. But not everybody in the government seems happy about the new allies and when Sam Witwicky and his girlfriend Mikaela discover that a part of the AllSpark somehow has survived, their journey starts yet again.
What follows are 2 ½ hours action packed propaganda for the US military. One may imagine George W. sitting in the living room of this ranch, with a silent tear of sweet “mission accomplished” memories running down his face. No one talks about human allies, no general mentions NATO or any other country. There is no place for a coalition of the willing but the USA once again will help to protect the world from all evil that lies beyond, somewhere out in space.
The virtual battlefields stretch from China to Egypt. US Marines standing in front of bombed houses in the desert sand while Hans Zimmer provides as usual the Wagnereske sound wall that engulfs every single pixel on the screen. But yet not a single dialog line connects Iraq or Afghanistan with the story. No captives, you are with them or against them and while the pyramids are deliciously torn apart we are waiting to see with which new super weapon we will be saved this time.
Figures like Captain William Lennox, a brave and responsible US Army Ranger are the reasons why this kind of unreflected demonstration of military power is the perfect recruiting material. Loving father, husband, great American. And when his time has come to make a decision against the President’s direct order, he knows what to do.
There is no blood, no casualties, no harm done, no friendly fire – according to Bay of course. And just before the credits start rolling we see Witwicky and Optimus standing on the edge of the aircraft carrier deck, staring at the sky with a deep, meaningful posture. I think it’s the moment where good old George starts shedding tears like a broken water pipe.

That can’t be right. Newlyweds! Impossible. Mexican children ok, but british newlyweds. Unbelievable.

Relax, sit back, enjoy the show. What country has the most infected, who’s going to have the first deaths? Seek your favorite sportsbook and place a bet. Designers of face masks, that’s your chance! I know you waited so long for this opportunity. Jehova’s witnesses, isn’t that a good chance to predict the end of the world (one again?). I know you. The one’s sick of this world. Trying to fuck the system and eventually finding out that it fucked you all over the whole time. You lure in the dark, waiting for a sign of a Change (but not the Obama kind of way) and now you think you have found it. After all these years. Berlin Wall, 9/11, SARS, avian flu, economic crises and now finally a story big enough to make it to the global headlines. Fox & co can’t be wrong. Start digging the tunnels - or just close the door if you have done this a long time ago. Enjoy you’re canned beans while others are still running on infected streets or worry about the fact that the disease came from a filthy animal and give it a nicer name (with Mexican Flu I can’t help thinking about a group of virus dancing ‘la cucaracha’.. sorry for the cliche).

Not even sex sells as good as fear and disaster.

There are various reasons why television is shit. Free TV of course. The addictive potential of HBO, cinemax & co is written on another page. It’s not only the content (there have been enough jokes about MTV not playing music, but it borders on cynicism when you watch what they actually dare to call program).
It’s the freakin’ ads that drive one crazy. Who the fuck would let a stranger into one’s house so that they can first put dirt on your carpet and then proudly clean it? My personal favorite is Mr. Musculo. A – You’d never guessed it – muscular, tall, hansom (?) looking bodybuilding scientist always equipped with glasses that incorporate a head set, wearing a skin tight cleaning uniform. Whenever a poor woman out there is crying because of dirty mark on their cloth – he is there.
In this spot the young protagonist is first asking in her work if a colleague can help her (which he does of course, and I’m sure he’s got a good reason). Then in the supermarket she again needs help to carry her stuff to her car. She is shown with a little boy so we can imagine she’s a working mother. When she finally comes home (without her son?) she is asking who’s going to help her with all the dirty dishes. Take a look at the size of the kitchen. No way she could afford this with the job she was shown doing in the first scene. And if she’s already well suited, why not having someone to do the dishes (this wouldn’t be so weird to have in Argentina). Of course the guy who is helping her with the dishes is Mr. Musculo. He then explains the poor and naïve house wife/mother how to clean up her huge and dirty kitchen. Once finished, the muscle man has to take of because another woman is in need.
Of course it’s not the only ad that uses this cliché. Poor (stupid) woman and a wise (intelligent) man who explains her how the world works. Other versions feature a singing man, knocking on your door and melting the woman’s heart by bringing her detergent or a group of women gathering to a marvelous demonstration of how to remove a dirty, dirty spot. The actual language doesn’t matter. Spanish, Portuguese, German, English … the shit doesn’t get any better.
These guys didn’t really get it that we’re already in the 21st century. Or did they? Isn’t it a shame that this kind of ads still work? That there is a clientele out there who is stupid enough to buy this product after airing such a waste of resources?

The four Apolo trains from Spain just arrived in Costa Rica. In the next weeks they are going to be adapted to fit the 1.06 gauge tracks.
The trains are part of a new infrastructure concept to solve the transport situation in the central valley where decades of corruption, misplanning and lack of vision have left the economical, political and cultural center of Costa Rica in a devastated shape. Streets flooded with SUVs and old buses together with replacement of the old architecture with concrete block (60/70 style) gave the city the rest. But it was not always like that. If you look at the old San José there was even a tramway, not to mention the clean streets and nice buildings. The city officials came up with a number plate system where certain numbers are not allowed to enter the city during a specific day. However this is merely more than just the beginning. The same thing applies to the construction of the new pedestrian zones in the capital. A great thing, but as long the problem of how people get into the city is not resolved, there is no real chance for improvement.

In the early days one could go from one Puntarenas on the Pacific side of the county to Puerto Limon on the Caribbean side by train. Then along comes a president who by coincidence owns a large transportation company and does everything to shut down the competition. After a earthquake the rest of the line is disabled. After years of no passenger service at all the line reopened as a kind of metro connecting Pavas and the Universidad Latina in San José. According to the plan of the department of transportation they want to introduce electric trains in 2013 to connect the city of Heredia and the capital. But as always, one has to be careful not to drown in too much excitement as this announcements tend to change, especially because next year is an election year. It’s not that the people wouldn’t like it. Anybody who remembers the old days of San José is deeply frustrated by the current situation.

A working transport system is exactly what this city needs and in my humble opinion it can really be quite a new beginning. Not to imagine what the city could look like if you get out just half of all the cars.

Maybe one day it will be possible to travel from Mexico directly to Panama City, but this sure is going to take some more decades.

More Info: Trenes de Costa Rica (spanish)

We’ve seen what the first two phases of this condition can do to a person and now we would like to round it up by the final two stages.
Phase three, or the adjustment phase is where the individual is getting assimilated by the new culture. And there are a lot of ways how and when this can happen. One big thing is that you now know “how things are working”. You feel a psychological balance, more confident. You don’t feel so isolated anymore and get back your sense of humor (in case you are blessed with the dark talent of making cynical jokes all the time, you may have never lost it in the first hand).
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the fabric of corruption. The here used Costa Rican 1000 Colones bill is about worth 1.9 USD or 1.4 Eur. A generic qualified worker earns 218,037 Colones (421 USD or 309 Eur) per month (of course 8 hours for 6 days a week). This means our generic qualified worker would earn 805.75 Colones per hour (12,4 USD or 9.1 Eur) or not even a “rojo” how it’s called sometimes. Together with underpaid work, exploited by multinational corporations in the cloak of development aid (”we could always go to China”) is this the perfect swamp in which to grow corruption sopping monsters.