Men, värst av allt är deras cykelfascism. Jag satt en timme på spinningcykeln idag. Active Wellness och Jim bjöd på temat: Tour de France. Vi följde Lance Armstrong och för de som inte vem det är så är han en amerikansk brevbärare som, istället för att dela ut brev på måfå, cyklar 300 mil på tre veckor. Vi lekte följa Lance, tittade på en diaboliskt hopklippt film som låtsades visa hur fint Frankrike var, men bara avslöjade landet i dess totala ondska. Och vi tokcyklade hela tiden!!!

Hade inte Frankrike funnits, hade jag mått bra nu. Istället sitter jag här med två brinnande lår och vill inte ens tänka på morgondagen. Då har mjölksyran blivit till sur grädde i musklerna. Då kommer jag att gå som Zeb Macahan efter en helt manlig herdestund.

Till träningsvärken lättat är jag härmed officiellt i krig med republiken Frankrike.

Lever-dy?
E'ry'död?
Fragilé

Jävla grodätare. Varför kunde ni inte spela krocket istället för att cykla omkring i bergen? Från och med nu är Jacques Tati den enda fransman på cykel jag accepterar. Alla andra kan dra åt Toulouse eller nåt ännu varmare ställe.

PS! Tjejerna i Huit Femmes är undantagna också. De är rätt coola, men annars finns inget bra alls med Frankrike.

PSS! Okej då, champagnen jag ska dricka när min första bok släpps är okej också. MEN - sedan är det stopp med min välvilja.

Clae, the brand we had never heard about is starting their new season with single colored shoes. From left to right is the new Cousteau, Rollins and Parker models. When you find out how to get them let us know, because at the moment you can only get them to Turkey through the Internet.

With the hot summer months fast approaching, Amphibian Ark, the international organization helping to keep endangered amphibian species afloat (whose efforts we profiled here), needs your help now more than ever. They've just embarked on an ambitious new grassroots initiative, called "5 for frogs," to get more people involved with their efforts and raise awareness; it's part of their broader "50 ways to save amphibians" initiative.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, the eldest son of the late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, President of Ocean Futures Society and host of Ocean Adventures on NPT and PBS stations nationwide, was in Chattanooga yesterday to speak at the Tennessee Aquarium. He told attendees that although the state is not near the ocean, its rivers matter.

"The river goes in the ocean so they are the roots of the ocean,” he told the Tennessean. “We’re all connected to the ocean. We need to stop using it as a garbage can.”

It's taken a lot of patience and hard work by the scientists associated with Amphibian Ark, but the organization has just launched its first species naming auction -- the first of five that will happen during this 5 for Frogs summer. Details of the auction and the new Ecuadorian species are pasted below -- pretty cool that it's a frog that walks instead of hops. When this auction is through, the auctioneer should yell at the top of his lungs, GOING ... GOING ... SAVED! If you know people who could write a big check to save amphibians, and would find it really cool to name a new species, please make sure they see this right away.

And, how cool is it that Jeff Corwin and Jean-Michele Cousteau are lending their names to this?!

NEWS RELEASE--Amphibian Ark, a global conservation organization formed in an effort to help save the world’s amphibians from mass extinction, is announcing its first frog naming rights auction, beginning immediately. The highest bid made on www.CharityBuzz.com will win the naming rights to a newly discovered species in the genus Osornophryne, an endangered “walking frog” indigenous to the remote Andes Mountains in Ecuador.

From one-third to one-half of the planet’s 6,000 amphibian species – frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, and caecilians – are in danger of extinction and the walking frog is no exception. The causes for these declines and extinctions come in different forms, including habitat loss, climate change, emerging diseases, pollution, and over-collection for food and pets.

“After thriving for 360 million years, frogs are in harm’s way,” said Jean-Michel Cousteau, supporter of Amphibian Ark and founder of the Oceans Future Society. “Because amphibians are the first to feel the effects of environmental stressors that could ultimately harm humans, the time to act is now.”

Walking frogs are known for having no tadpoles; instead hatched eggs release froglets. And, instead of jumping, they walk slowly along the forests of the Andes.

The winning bidder’s selected name will be published in a scientific journal. Arrangements can also be made to tour the conservation facilities in Ecuador that will protect the species, and see other endangered amphibians in their natural habitat.

The proceeds will be used by Amphibian Ark partners in Ecuador to save some of the country’s most endangered amphibian species – including the new, walking frog. The auction is being conducted by CharityBuzz.

Auctioning off naming rights for species is a growing tactic by wildlife protection organizations to raise the funds necessary to protect our planet’s biodiversity. Recent auctions have allowed philanthropists to name butterflies, monkeys, and fish.

“We are very proud to be working with Amphibian Ark in their incredibly worthy project to help raise money to protect endangered amphibians,” said Coppy Holzman, CEO of CharityBuzz.com. “Based on our prior species naming experience, we fully expect this series of frog naming auctions to be very successful and encourage everyone to visit the site and aid this worthy cause.”

In order to make a bid or learn more about Amphibian Ark and the new walking frog species, please visit http://www.charitybuzz.com/area.do?id=773.

Amphibian Ark is a partnership between the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, and IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. It was formed to develop, promote, and guide short term captive management of threatened amphibians, making possible the long-term survival of species for which adequate protection in the wild is not currently possible. For additional information about Amphibian Ark please visit www.amphibianark.org.

Pierre-Antoine Cousteau et Lucien Rebatet, Dialogue de vaincus, 1950

Pierre-Antoine Cousteau et Lucien Rebatet, Dialogue de vaincus

Românii împărtăşesc un trecut în care nu erau capabili să-şi controleze viitorul. Astăzi trebuie să înţeleagă că viitorul e cu adevărat în mâinile lor şi că societatea civilă este un mijloc prin care ei îşi pot controla viitorul.

Aşa a zis Phillip Weller, secretarul executiv al Comisiei Internaţionale pentru Protecţia Dunării, la masa rotundă organizată de Institutul Aspen în Delta Dunării săptămâna trecută. Tema mesei rotunde a fost ecologia şi împărţirea responsabilităţilor pentru protejarea mediului.

Mi-a atras atenţia o poveste cu Jacques Yves Cousteau, de pe vremea când pe bancnota de 25 de lei era reprezentat Sidex-ul. "Lucrurile se vor schimba în România", i-a spus Cousteau lui Grigore Baboianu, astăzi director executiv al Rezervaţiei, "când pe bancnotă vor fi Delta Dunării şi alte situri naturale, nu fabrici şi uzine."

Între invitaţi s-a numărat şi ministrul mediului, Attila Korodi. Mi-a plăcut că, asemenea lui Mircea Geoană, preşedintele Aspen, şi-a rupt o zi din campanie ca să vină la discuţii. Şi asta în condiţiile în care masa rotundă nu a fost un eveniment de presă.

Matteo Codazzi de la Enel a vorbit despre programul de investiţii de 4 miliarde de euro în energii regenerabile - o cifră care face să pălească orice program de CSR din România. Mi-a plăcut şi sloganul lor, o parafrază deşteaptă la Marx:

Adevărata revoluţie înseamnă să nu schimbi lumea.
În loc să schimbăm planeta, am preferat să ne schimbăm pe noi.

Am mai reţinut:

• "Comportamentul şi aşteptările tinerilor se schimbă. Fără engagement, companiile vor rezista foarte greu pe o piaţă din ce în ce mai cinică." - Mircea Ţiplea
• Expresia "a pune guler Gucci la cămaşă Braiconf" - n-am reţinut autorul
• Deputatul Iulian Iancu vrea să lanseze un proiect ambiţios - zero emisii de dioxid de carbon la Casa Poporului. Pentru asta, va tapeta hidoasa construcţie cu panouri solare. Succes!
• "Ne gândim mereu să adăugăm taxe, dar niciodată să reducem unele taxe în vreme ce le creştem pe altele" - Steven Borncamp
• Viitorul distribuţiei şi producerii energiei, după Steven Rivkin: consumatorii privaţi vor putea vinde energia produsă în plus în locuinţă în reţeaua naţională. Noile contoare vor măsura nu doar energia consumată, ci şi pe cea produsă şi dată în reţea. - Mihnea Constantinescu (recunosc ruşinat că habar n-aveam cine e Rivkin înainte să fie pomenit, I googled him după ce am văzut că şi Korodi e fan).
• Ministrul mediu crede în "energia albă", energia nucleară. Cam straniu...

Un participant a vorbit la un moment dat folosind foarte multe cifre. În medie, cam 8-10 cifre pe propoziţie. Uşor obositor. În pauza de cafea, un amic îmi şopteşte: There are 3 types of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics...

Overall, un eveniment reuşit. Au fost mai multe poziţii radical diferite, dar s-a putut discuta civilizat, fără prea multă patimă. Am avut de câteva ori senzaţia că oamenii chiar se ascultau unii pe alţii.

Amphibian Ark, a global conservation organization created to raise awareness and rally fundraising to protect endangered amphibian species, announced last week the commencement of its 5 for Frogs campaign. 5 for Frogs is a grassroots crusade with the goal of raising $500,000 to save five endangered species in five months.

The ”pay it forward” spirit behind 5 for Frogs asks kids and adults to do something to help frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians through acts of kindness involving the number 5. It could be as simple as someone telling or emailing five people about the looming mass extinction of amphibians. Or, it could be holding a charity car wash or selling cookies to raise $5, $50, or even $500 for Amphibian Ark to allocate to rescue projects. If thousands get involved, each can play a part in saving five or more species from extinction. Fifty ideas for getting involved in 5 for Frogs are listed on the Amphibian Ark Web site at www.amphibianark.org.

The May kickoff of 5 for Frogs started with a U.S. national FrogWatch on May 3 involving hundreds of students who will monitor the environmental health status of amphibians in their communities through a cooperative effort organized by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) and the National Wildlife Federation. FrogWatch is a volunteer-based program that encourages everyone to help by getting outdoors and monitoring local wetlands for breeding frogs and toads.

“Not since the disappearance of the dinosaurs have we seen an extinction of this magnitude,” said Jean-Michele Cousteau, supporter of Amphibian Ark and founder of the Oceans Future Society. “Because amphibians are the first to feel the effects of environmental stressors that could ultimately harm humans, and they play a critical role in our ecosystem, the time to act is now.”

In addition to the grassroots activities, 5 for Frogs will feature several global, special events throughout the summer. Five species of amphibians that have not yet been given common names will have their naming rights auctioned, with proceeds earmarked for Amphibian Ark. And, an endangered Mexican species, the Large-crested toad, received special visibility on Cinco de Mayo, celebrated, of course, on the fifth day of the fifth month.

 “It costs only $100,000 to save one species of amphibians, which is a relatively low cost for avoiding extinction,” said Jeff Corwin, supporter of Amphibian Ark and host of The Discovery Network’s Animal Planet. “The Year 2008 has been dubbed The Year of the Frogs by conservationists from around the world to highlight the amphibian crisis and to save the most endangered species from extinction. As a result, the 5 for Frogs campaign could not come at a better time in an attempt to channel these efforts.”

Amphibian Ark is a partnership between the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, and IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. It was formed to develop, promote, and guide short term captive management of threatened amphibians, making possible the long-term survival of species for which adequate protection in the wild is not currently possible. To learn more about Amphibian Ark, the 5 for Frogs campaign, and to review 50 inspirational and creative ways to raise funds for amphibians, please visit www.amphibianark.org.

Amphibian Ark truly is fortunate to have a dream team of conservationist "celebrities" supporting our cause: Jean-Michel is joined by Sir David Attenborough and Jeff Corwin in lending time and talent to make the world take notice that we are in danger of losing up to half of the world's 6,000 amphibian species. Note that the video ends with the new 5 for Frogs campaign logo. Hope you will get involved. 

J.Y. Cousteau

foto: © M.G.

Amphibian Ark received this letter from Sage. Sage example, don't you think? The child was responding to the Leap Day email that Jean-Michel Cousteau sent on behalf of Amphibian Ark.

(Dialogue de vaincus)

Et pendant ce temps, à Radio Courtoisie, on n'entend plus que le bruit des oreilles qui sifflent...

[audio http://osaldalingua.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/take10b.mp3]
19 Lovely Lovely Love: Alaska in Winter
20 Strange Invitation: Beck
21 Sea of Love: Cat Power
22 Just Like a Woman: Charlotte Gainsbourg & Calexico
23 Doctor Blind: Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton
24 Só tinha de ser com você: Elis & Tom
25 Changes: Seu Jorge
26 Yellow Submarine: The Beatles
27 You My Lunar Queen: Cousteau
28 Boobar: Tindersticks
29 Hey, Don't You Cry: Stuart A. Staples
30 Serpentine: dEUS
31 Belle and Sebastian: Belle and Sebastian
32 Nature Boy: Lisa Ekdhal
33 Toothpaste Kisses: The Maccabees
34 John Wayne Gacy Jr.: Sufjan Stevens
35 Saddest Vacant Lot in the World: Grandaddy
36 String: Tunng
37 Eternal Flame: Joan as Police Woman
38 Love Will Tear Us Apart: Nouvelle Vague
39 Tire Swing: Kimya Dawson
40 Dream On Girl: Rita Redshoes
41 Seahorse: Devendra Banhart
42 Sacred Mountains: Aniwida And Nik Tyndal
43 JCB: Nizlopi
44 More Than This: Brian Ferry

Le boitier anti-jeunes, la flamme olympique, ..., autant de sujets dont tronci se fou malgré la future guerre avec la chine et l'anéantissement total de la planete !

« Rebatet - Autre question : le dialogue sur les nègres ?

Cousteau - Nous le laissons, lui aussi, de côté. C'est trop dangereux. On fait trop vite figure de criminel lorsqu'on s'offusque des coïts franco-bambaras. L'autre jour j'ai rencontré une dame fort orthodoxement « issue » qui menait grand tapage parce qu'une jeune Allemande avait trouvé à Paris une place de dactylo : « Ces Boches ne peuvent donc pas rester chez eux ! » disait-elle au comble de l'exaspération. Et comme, cinq minutes plus tard, je lui faisais remarquer qu'il y avait vraiment beaucoup de nègres sur le boul'Mich, j'aurais voulu que tu visses avec quelle superbe elle m'a cloué le bec : « Ce sont des Français comme les autres. » Alors n'en parlons plus.

Rebatet - Justement, je prenais le parti des nègres contre les imbéciles, contre le cornichon Guéhenno. Ils vont foutre des véroles effroyables à ces pauvres nègres. Ils les syndiquent. Ils les font voter. Ça va se terminer par un massacre affreux de nègres. [Ô prophète !] Je leur veux du bien, aux nègres, moi.

Cousteau - Moi aussi. Mais nous n'avons le droit de leur vouloir du bien que dans une perspective démocratique. Sorti de là, tu retombes dans le génocide.

Rebatet - Horrible ! Résignons-nous, biffons les nègres. »

« Cousteau - Mais crois-tu, cher Lucien, que l'histoire ne me gêne pas, moi aussi ? Lorsque je me penche sur le passé, j'ai la sensation de ne pas avoir été battu seulement dans cette guerre-ci, j'ai la sensation d'avoir toujours été battu. Du moins au cours de la période contemporaine. J'ai été battu à Valmy, j'ai été battu en Vendée, j'ai été battu à Moscou, à Leipzig et à Waterloo, parce qu'après avoir été contre la Révolution, je me serais rallié à Napoléon qui était l'Ordre. J'ai été battu sur les barricades en 1830 et en 1848. J'ai été battu en Géorgie par Sherman et par Grant. J'ai été battu par les gens du Quatre Septembre, battu avec les armées de Wrangel et de Koltchak, battu en Normandie par Eisenhower et dans le bunker de la Reichskanzellrei par Joseph Vissarionovitch. Une seule exception qui confirme la règle : j'ai gagné avec Franco contre le Frente Popular, mais ce fut tellement inespéré que je n'en suis pas encore revenu. Historiquement, le Frente Popular aurait dû gagner puisqu'il était la canaille. Ah ! Nos ennemis ont la partie belle de nous jeter à la figure que l'histoire nous accable ! »

« Rebatet - Il y a eu un gros engouement pour Sartre en 1945, chez les jeunes gars qui avaient été ballottés entre la collaboration et le gaullisme, le surréalisme et les curetons, et qui attendaient de l'existentialisme une espèce de bréviaire de l'anarchie. On ne peut pas leur en vouloir, hein ? Mais on ne me fera jamais croire que les dits gars béent d'admiration devant le bigle atteint de délire démocratique qui passe du charabia hégélien aux feuilletons tricolores, le tout hérissé de plus de majuscules que Les Quatre Vents de l'esprit de Hugo. Or, si Sartre perd l'audience des « intellectuels », que lui restera-t-il : ce ne sera évidemment pas la classe ouvrière qui n'a jamais lu et ne lira jamais une ligne du socialiste Sartre, de la progressiste Simone de Beauvoir. Je te dis que cette bande n'ira plus très loin. Ou alors il faudra qu'elle change drôlement de route.

Cousteau - Tu me le faisais remarquer l'autre jour : la tare majeure de ces farceurs camouflés en anarchistes, c'est qu'ils sont essentiellement des moralistes.

Rebatet - Ce camouflage-là, lui aussi, est une escroquerie.

Cousteau - On comprend qu'ils aient eu au début un certain succès auprès des jeunes gens en leur expliquant qu'il ne tirait point à conséquence de culbuter sa mère, de chier sur les moquettes et de voler aux étalages, que l'important était de se « réaliser » par n'importe quel moyen : catch as catch can. Là-dessus, on leur dit : « D'accord, je vais me réaliser dans la SS. » Et tu les vois aussitôt bondir comme un Mauriac dans un bénitier, se tordre les bras et glapir que c'est l'abomination de la désolation, qu'on ne peut se « réaliser » décemment que dans les brigades internationales. Si tu demandes pourquoi, tu te fais drôlement engueuler. Scrogneugneu ! Garde à vous ! Repos ! Foutrai d'dans ! Jugulaire Jugulaire ! Et pas de rouspétance. On se « réalise » dans les brigades internationales parce que c'est l'ordre du colonel. »

Jacques Cousteau

• PADI Open Water Diver - Το βασικό πτυχίο καταδύσεων αναψυχής για βάθη μέχρι και τα 18 μέτρα
• PADI Enriched Air Diver – Ειδικότητα που επιτρέπει καταδύσεις με μείγματα αέρα, συνήθως υπεροξικά (π.χ. EANx32 και ΕΑΝx36, με 32 και 36% οξυγόνο αντίστοιχα) σε αντίθεση με το 21% οξυγόνο που αναπνέουμε καθημερινά – 20,01% για τους geeks...
• PADI Emergency First Response – Πρόγραμμα που καλύπτει πρώτες βοήθειες, CPR και άλλα χρήσιμα. Προτιμάται και από τους Ερυθροσταυρίτες!

Τόσα μέρη θα δούμε, αμαρτία δεν είναι…
Ε.

PS: Το αγαπημένο καταδυτικό σημείο του Cousteau είναι στις Φιλιππίνες. Κατάρα, δεν είναι στο δρόμο μας…

El 6 de marzo arranca (nunca mejor utilizado el término) el Salón del Automóvil de Ginebra. La empresa Rinspeed estará presentando su prototipo sQuba, el primer coche submarino del mundo,que puede llegar a 10 metros de profundidad, tiene dos plazas, tres motores eléctricos, tapicería resistente al agua y lubricantes biodegradables. Hasta ahí, el sueño hecho realidad. Pero, seguimos leyendo “sus ocupantes deberán usar tanques de oxígeno y trajes de buceo porque la cabina es abierta”. QUÉÉÉÉ´???? Y para qué quiero un auto donde no puedo pitar ni escuchar música ni leerme el “El Mundo de los Delfines” de Jacques Cousteau (para entrar en tema vio?). No, dejá, para qué voy a gastarme miles y miles de dólares si no voy a poder cumplir el sueño de mi coblogger (neologismo?): FUMAR ABAJO DEL AGUA. Prototipos eran los de antes.

"Como todos os seres humanos, nascemos no coração da mãe-terra. Temos braços e pernas, respiramos oxigênio que entra em pequenos pulmões. Passamos grande parte da nossa vida na posição vertical que nos dá uma maior autonomia e conforto na terra. Vistos superficialmente somos iguais a todos os seres humanos.

Mas analisando um pouco mais fundo, alguma coisa nos faz diferente. Nascemos com os olhos acostumados ao azul das águas. Temos um corpo que anseia pelo braço do mar e, um pulmão que aceita grandes privações de ar apenas para prolongar a nossa vida no mundo azul.

Somos homens e mulheres de espírito inquieto. Buscamos na nossa vida mais do que foi dado. Passamos por grandes provas para nos aproximar dos peixes. Transformamos nossos pés em grandes nadadeiras, seguramos o calor do nosso corpo com peles falsas e chegamos até a levar um novo pulmão em nossas costas. E tudo isto para quê? Para podermos satisfazer uma paixão, um sonho. Porque nós, algum dia, de alguma forma, fomos apresentados a um mundo novo. Um mundo de silêncio, calma, mistério, respeito e amizade. E esta calma e silêncio nos fizeram esquecer da bagunça e agitação do nosso mundo natal. O mistério envolveu nosso coração sedento de aventura.

O respeito que aprendemos a ter pelos verdadeiros habitantes desse mundo. Respeito esse que, só depois de ter sentido a inocência de um peixe, a inteligência de um golfinho, a majestade de uma baleia ou mesmo a força de um tubarão, podemos compreender.

E a amizade. Quando vamos até o fundo do mar, descobrimos que ali jamais poderíamos viver sozinhos. Então levamos mais alguém. E esta pessoa, chamada de dupla, companheiro ou simplesmente amigo, passa a ser importante para nós. Porque, além de poder salvar nossa vida, passa a compartilhar tudo que vemos e sentimos. E em duplas, passamos a ter equipes, e estas passam a ser cada vez maiores e mais unidas. E assim entendemos que somos todos velhos amigos mesmo que não nos conheçamos. E esse elo que nos une é maior que todos os outros que já encontramos

E isso faz com que nós mais do que amigos, sejamos irmãos. Faz de nós, mergulhadores."Jacques Yves Cousteau

The first piece I am going to describe is the bolero to go on top of the dress. It is supposed to look like a big cluster of bubbles, like you would find breaking the surface above a diver. To maintain the idea of the exhaled breate and its formation of bubbles, the pattern was cut from a circle.

Here is how I made the bubbles.

Picture 1 shows the fabric (recycled denim was specified for this assignment) which has been cut into flat pieces and bleached).

The next picture shows the fabric which has been pulled apart into the individual threads. Next it has been soaked in fabric medium which acts as a glue. Next it is teased out and placed on a piece of plastic wrap. A water balloon inflated with air is then placed in the middle and the threads are wrapped around it with the aid of the plastic wrap. It is then left 24 hours to dry. The plastic is removed, the balloon popped and carefully removed, eh voila...

one thread bubble! Now I just need to make a zillion more. Check back soon for the finished bolero.
!!!

It is called "The Attack Of The Clone Eels"
Have fun.

No animals were harmed in this movie.

Thanx to Marco for providing great footage. Special Appreance by me at timeframe -2:16min.