Marcel, l'océan et la vie

is often used for the purpose

2009-09-01T01:26:00.002+02:00

We’ve reviewed µMonitor and determined that we cannot post this version of your application to the App Store at this time because this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store,” Apple wrote to the developer after a 4 month review process.

And this is what I'm going to tell the government: We have reviewed your request for the payment of taxes and we cannot pay your tax at this time because this kind of money is often used for the purpose of buying weapons and attacking other countries. We have chosen not to pay this tax.

Walk like an Egyptian, Smell like an Indian

2009-08-15T16:07:00.006+02:00

I can't really walk like an Egyptian but I can smell like an Indian...

Of course you've felt the way other people, other races, other cultures smell different than your own. You seldom say it because it can be perceived as a racist comment. Some people try to justify it by saying that it's food that makes them smell different. Them is in italics of course because I'm sure they (whoever they are) think that we (whoever we are) smell funny.

Anyway, guess what? It's true! I've just spent 3 days in paradise-like Mauritius Island and I smell like an Indian. Every trip is to be enjoyed with all the senses and so, every trip is also a gastronomic experience.

During these 3 days and despite the many and harsh complaints from my agonizing liver, I have tried the most local dishes I could. It was not easy because I spent most of my time in Sofitel and their cuisine is very international but I sort of managed. And when I say I sort of managed I mean that I smell like an Indian... Or at least my sweat does ;)

Eew, why do you have to write about sweat smell???? - you may be saying.

Well, didn't I say every trip is to be enjoyed with all the senses?

Open letter to the shareholders of major record labels

2009-05-15T00:03:00.007+02:00

Dear Shareholder,

I'd like to dare you to do a stupid test. I know that regularly you have to listen to the top executives of the record label of which you hold some stock. I think I have a fairly good idea of what they tell you every year when you see the poor results they make.

"This is all because of piracy and the internet. But we are close to a breakthru, more and more countries are passing 3 strikes laws and this will finally deter piracy and bring our numbers up again". - I'm sure you've been hearing this kind of crap for ages.

Next time you hear this nonsense, I'd like you to ask for proof. Serious proof. There the test is done. I'm sure none will be provided and they will try to adjourn by promising proof for next year. Don't let them!!! When you hear that kind of speech, I'd like you to answer something senseful, something like:

"Cut the crap, you moronic, lying piece of corporate shit. Go find a real commercial strategy to boost your sales instead of whining about your poor sales being someone else's fault (everybody else actually)".

Until you do, I will not buy one single record. I will not download either, I will only go to live performances where it is guaranteed that the big share goes to the artist.

Yours truly,

Marcel, a customer

BitTorrent is the new radio

2009-05-14T23:51:00.003+02:00

When I was a teenager I used to listen to the radio with my finger on the REC button. A lot of other teenagers did the same. That didn't kill the record industry. Especially because now, as an adult who earns his own money, I have bought many of those records.

I wasn't interested in corporate whining at that time but I'm sure the major record labels had already started saying that cassette recorders would kill the creative process. And by "creative process" they mean their profits. In case you were thinking of some artist starving because you have recorded his songs in a cassette, wake up! Big record labels don't give a shit about that...

I think that BitTorrent today is fulfilling that role. There is, of course, a big difference between that time and today: radios pay for the rights of passing this or that music (Don't they?) whilst BitTorrent file hosters don't. But the result is the same, those teenagers will buy the records when they become adults and more importantly, they go to concerts!!

Anyway, that's my 2cents.

My poor beloved country

2009-02-05T23:38:00.002+01:00

Been to Argentina over Christmas. My beloved country. My beloved family and friends. That's were it stops.

How is it that my people always find a way to mess it up. I guess everyone's heard about the big economic crash of 2002. Yes, everybody did because people around here keep asking me "Ça va mieux là-bas?" as soon as they learn I come from Argentina. Well, since then the country has been getting slowly out of the mess it was. Economy is getting better, there's jobs and all sorts of stuff to buy in the shops.

The thing is, some smart asses have realized that small shops need coins to operate, simply because they sell small stuff. And as the Argentinean mind is always ready to find a trick to make money out of thin air (meaning somebody else's thin air), there is this bunch of people that decided it was a good idea to hoard coins and then sell them in the black market. Thus creating an unreal exchange rate between Argentine Peso and Argentine Peso. A coin is worthier than a bill and they sell 87 pesos of coins for 100 pesos. Can you bloody believe it?

The result of course is that everyone else loses. Taxi drivers even round down the final amount so as not to have to give you coins (because they don't have them!!). The Banco Central keeps minting coins to feed the market and they keep disappearing. Prime suspects are banks (yes, f***ing bastard banks that took our money from us back in 2002) and bus companies (bus is paid in coins, there's no other way). Actually, some time before I arrived they had discovered that a certain bank or bus company (can't remember which) was hoarding 40 barrels (yes, 40!) of coins. When will we all learn!?!?

Over and out.

Dialogue

2008-11-22T17:27:00.000+01:00

I was there, your were around
She introduced us
You talked, I listened
I talked, you listened
You left, I left

I miss you already.

Hey Bulldog!

2008-10-31T22:52:00.008+01:00

Some kind of happinness is measured out in miles
What makes you think you're
something special when you smile
Hey Bulldog - The Beatles

Yes. It is. I frequently check my mileage status, it's like wealth to me. I'm like Scrooge McDuck counting his pennies every day.
But there's something else, something deeper. I'm pretty sure my happiness will someday be measured in miles. Miles spent. Not the airline miles but miles spent travelling on my motorcycle.
I've made up my mind and my happiness will be measured in miles around the world. The date is June 2011, the first day of the month, maybe before if all goes well. That day I will be leaving my appartment with nothing but clothes for a week, my camera, my computer and my motorbike. I'll take some money with me so as not to starve on the way to happiness.
From that day and for at least one year I have decided I will tour the world. I'm still planning for it and haven't decided much but I've made my backward planning and set my critical path.
Not many things are clear yet. Big bike or small bike? China or not China? Apparently it's quite difficult to enter with a foreign vehicle. Full world, only Eurasia, Eurasia and back on a different route? Long stays, short stays? One year or rest of my life?
Such are the questions that keep me busy when the job doesn't, which is most of the time.

Lost and Found in Translation

2008-09-05T16:42:00.003+02:00

I have a new theory. I always have theories. The new one is that you can understand a lot about a culture and a language from the way they translate themselves into other languages. I'm in Japan. It's wonderful.

I've been observing the English signs everywhere, the English signs because they are the only ones I can reasonable assess. The other ones I can only imagine. I've also been listening of course to English announcements whenever they are available.

It's a well-known fact that Japanese write foreign words using a syllabary that is different from the one they use for their own words, it's called katakana. Obviously, this syllabary is flawed. There are a lot of consonant groups that don't exist in it and as a result you get weird results when they speak English and even when they write it. There's a sign at the hostel saying for example that you should be very puncutual when taking a train. And if you have a headache you better take an asupirin.

In Spain they also have spoken announcements in the metro to tell you what are your options at each station. And they do exactly that, they tell you your options. In Tokyo (pronounce long o and both syllables equally tonic please) it's quite different, the message says something like "Please change here for line X". So very polite, it's like the platform manager will commit ritual suicide if you miss your station!!

To be updated...

Identity Lost

2008-08-12T22:33:00.000+02:00

I'm so pissed off with myself, feel so stoopid.

Saturday, I came back from a great day with friends in La Ciotat (near Marseilles). I had been to the beach, to the calanques, tried my new gadget (the wrist GPS to geotag my photos). All in all it had been a great day. Until I arrived to Paris. I got off the train, went home, only to find out I had forgotten my (very manly) handbag in the train with my wallet and all that goes in it, including my residence permit.

Sunday, after trying to get it back from the f***ing French railway company and having to hear stuff like "If it was so important to you then you shouldn't have lost it", I went to the police to declare the loss. Luckily my passport wasn't in the bag and I could use it to identify myself at the police station. I then ran off with some friends outside Paris to have a stroll in the woods and take some pictures.

Monday, I woke up too late to go the Chinese embassy to get my visa for my September vacation. I left home without taking a shower to gain some time, put some perfume on to avoid getting my visa refused for foul smell. Got to the embassy only to find out that my passport isn't with me. I backtracked to the scooter and it wasn't there, went back home to check if I left it at home. Nothing. I had lost another piece of documentation, shit! Only one left. Now I have to pay 100€ at my consulate to get an urgent passport and try to get my visa on time.

I felt so fucking stupid that I cried... Yes, I am a man, and I cried, first time in decades. Not even when my girlfriend left me for that Sicilian bastard but now I just had to cry.

El verano es peligroso

2008-06-24T23:51:00.002+02:00

Hoy casi me mato en el escúter, suerte que le hice cambiar los frenos... Y todo por darme vuelta a mirar una mina mientras pasaba a una camioneta por la contramano. ¿A quién se le ocurre parar para dejar pasar a otra camioneta que sale de una calle de la derecha? ¡Ah, cierto! Prioridad a la derecha...

Cuestión que en invierno no me habría pasado. El verano, qué lindo y qué peligroso a la vez.

The floor of broken hearts

2008-06-24T00:54:00.002+02:00

Soon I will not be able to go to the second floor of the office. So many broken hearts, so many heart-breakers. It seems that the company is trying to make me avoid the second floor.

Not happy with the current distribution they have decided to group all the ladies whose heart I broke and all those that broke my heart in the same floor and make me of course most unwelcome in that floor. Not that I wanted to go there anyway...

Le pouvoir d'achat relancé. Celui de qui encore vous avez dit?

2008-06-11T00:14:00.005+02:00

Et oui, parce qu'on nous dit qu'on va nous relancer le pouvoir d'achat mais sommes-nous sûrs qu'on s'adresse bien à nous?

Prennons par exemple la reduction du dépôt de garantie pour les loyers. Qu'en pensez-vous? Et bien, moi je pense que dans le fond c'est du pipot. Cette réduction peut faire, certes, qu'on récupère un mois de loyer mais qu'est-ce qui se passe quand on quitte un appart? Oui! Vous avez deviné! Non? Vous avez pas deviné? Normal, on y pense jamais mais regardons un peu la "big picture".

Quand on quitte un appartement, le loyer de cet appartement augmente, il se réajuste au prix du marché. La consequence? Le niveau général des loyers augmente et on est baisés.

Nous, on perd. Et qui gagne? Les propriétaires! N'oublions pas, mes chers français, que vous avez élu un gouvernement de droite et un gouvernement de droite bling-bling*. Un peu démagogue sur les bords. Il nous fait croire qu'il relance notre pouvoir d'achat mais en fait les seuls vrais favorisés sont riche et assimilés.

Et puis, le pouvoir d'achat... Veut-on vraiment en avoir plus? Si j'ai appris quelque chose en France, c'est que la France est différente. Elle ne marche pas avec les mêmes valeurs que le reste du monde. On en a rien à foutre de ton pouvoir d'achat, ce qu'on veut c'est que tu nous foutes la paix Mosieur le President.

L'augmentation du pouvoir d'achat ne sert qu'à une chose, à relancer la consommation. Et relancer la consommation ça sert uniquement à enrichir ceux qui sont déjà riches.

Le français de base veut vivre tranquile, il n'a rien à faire de s'acheter une télé de 120cm s'il doit s'endetter pour le faire et surtout s'il n'a pas de place où la mettre dans son petit appart parisien...

Tibet

2008-04-24T20:26:00.002+02:00

Why not have a look at a Chinese point of view? Whatever you think about Tibet, it is always good to listen to the other side of the story...

The Story of Stuff

2008-04-18T11:42:00.009+02:00

There is still hope for world, there is still some people that have usage of their own brain and that are using it for the good of the world, our world!

Check this out: http://www.storyofstuff.com/. Credit to Annie Leonard for a great way of telling the story of stuff and for helping us become conscious of what we are doing to our planet.

I'm not a big greenie but I'm working on it. This morning instead of leaving my home computer ON as I always do, I put it in standby. After all, I'm not using it so there's no reason it should be on... I also got rid of my TV set, even before watching this video. I didn't throw it away, I just gave it to a friend that still wants to watch that crap...

Where did the world go wrong? - Part 1

2008-04-06T15:38:00.004+02:00

In th beginning he went hunting, and fishing if he was near the water. He also collected fruit on the way.

But fruit was not his preferred food, he really liked the produce of his hunt. It was the tastiest of all the food he could get. And also the most rewarding, the physical prowess required to catch his food made him very proud. And very respected in the community. The women also appreciated his strong muscles and his face battered by weather and time spent in the hunt.

One day, tired of wandering around, following the fleeting herds of food, he decided to settle down. No more running and huting, he wanted to spend time with his friends and moreover with his wife and kids. He had discovered the joy of love, he had discovered that that thing he did to women led to pregnancy and pregnancy led to a child being born. An awesome discovery it was for him for now he felt responsible for the newborns. Kids were not anymore a woman's business only. Knowing this, he wanted to spend more and more time with her. And with the kids!

Some other discoveries he made helped him accomplish this endeavor. He coudn't have settled without food and just now he had made a discovery that changed his life forever. Forever?

Inconcluso - La hija de Sergei

2008-04-06T15:34:00.003+02:00

Sergei besó a su hija en ambas mejillas y comprendió. La conocía demasiado bien como para ignorarlo, ya no era el único y más importante hombre en la vida de su hija. El amor puro y filial ahora tenía competencia. Sergei lo entendió inmediatamente y entendió también que no tenía ninguna chance de ganar. Su hija pronto se alejaría de él para emprender una nueva vida.

Ticket to Ride

2008-04-03T00:07:00.007+02:00

I think I'm gonna be sad,
I think it's today, yeah.
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going away.

She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
She's got a ticket to ride,
But she don't care.

Yes she is. One of the girls that's driving me mad is leaving. She's going back to the East where she came from. She doesn't have her ticket to ride yet but in her mind she's already gone.

Anyway, right now there are too many girls that drive me mad. One day I tried to count them and the result was 8 but my friend had to remind of 2 more that I was forgetting. I need to put some order in my mind and heart, focus. I will not achieve anything if I don't focus. The whole point of being mad for a girl is to try to achieve something and make her be mad about you. If everytime I start working towards getting something done I start thinking what will happen with any of the others that I happen to like too, nothing gets done and I end up with a ticket to nowhere.

You may be thinking: What a kid! Well, I'm no kid. Actually I'm pretty old for this kind of hesitation and by the standards of my country I should already be married and my wife be pregnant of our second kid. Well, that hasn't happened and if I don't make up my mind it's not going to happen anytime soon.

Some have suggested making a list of priorities. It could be a good idea, if only I was able to do that sort of thing. It so happens that my mind doesn't work that way and I'm completely unable to make any kind of list and prioritization.

I absolutely need to think out a plan...

I wish she didn't leave but in a way it's better, she will get out of the list and it will be one less choice.

¿Por qué la Salsa?

2008-03-29T02:27:00.001+01:00

En mi país no se baila salsa. Es más, en mi país los únicos que bailan bailes de a dos son los viejos y las clases bajas, aunque dicen que hoy en día hay un revivir de la música ciudadana de principios del siglo XX. Yo no lo ví, pero hay testigos que dicen que lo vieron, que los jóvenes vuelven a bailarla.
En todo caso, yo siempre preferí las danzas de a dos. A mí eso de sacudirse enfrente de nadie o de alguien indiferentemente de que sea del sexo opuesto o no nunca me divirtió y esa música nunca me gustó (excepto contadas excepciones). Por eso, siempre que iba a bailar era más bien de quedarme sentado o apoyado en una columna fumando.
Hasta que descubrí la salsa. Una música con ritmo, con letra, con melodía. Una música que se baila de a dos. Y si bien en comienzo pensé que nunca lograría seguir el ritmo (sufro, o sufría, de una discapacidad rítmica muy acentuada) decidí que aprendería a bailarla. Y así fue.
Hoy en día no soy un astro de la salsa pero por lo menos cuando voy a bailar... ¡Bailo! ¡Y me divierto!
Entonces, resumiendo: la salsa porque se baila de a dos, la salsa porque tiene ritmo, la salsa porque hay buen ambiente. Y por último, y cuando digo último es último, es que es realmente un efecto no buscado: ¡Es un muy buen ejercicio! Todo el cuerpo se mueve, transpira, se ejercita. La primera vez que baile toda la noche me dolieron las pantorrillas durante 3 días, pero estaba contento. Por fin había ido a bailar y me había divertido bailando. Contrariamente a haberme divertido simplemente porque mis amigos por suerte son divertidos.

Ahora descubrí también que la bachata me gusta más, es menos técnica, más divertida y más romántica...

Qui est donc ce Marcel?

2008-03-28T21:03:00.001+01:00

Marcel c'est moi, mon alter-ego, ma deuxième personnalité. Avant de faire un scizophrénie pathologique j'ai préféré me dédoubler de mon propre accord.
Je ne suis pas un faux, je suis le vrai moi mais je préfère rêver sous un autre nom pour ne pas importuner les gens autour de moi.
Sur ce blog vous trouverez un peu de tout, de tout ce qui me vient à l'esprit et surtout dans la langue dans laquelle ça me viendra. Car, malheureusement pour certains et heureusement pour moi, je parle et écris aussi l'espagnol, l'anglais, un peu de portugais et un tout petit peu d'italien et russe et c'est pas tout le temps que j'ai envie d'écrire en français. En plus le français n'est pas la langue dans laquelle je fais le moins de fautes et comme je n'aime pas faire des fautes quand j'écris je le ferai dans celle qui me viendra à l'esprit au moment de commencer.
Je m'en vais danser la salsa...