'The Life In a Day of a Fan'...

or was it the other way around...?

So late last month there were the first news articles about the currently ongoing "63th. Berlinale" (a large film festival in Berlin, Germany, 7th-17th February 2013) and a certain British actor whose roles he played over the years are too plentiful to list also showed up on the guest list.

As the Berlinale started, more and more news surfaced, such as the info that "Night Train To Lisbon" (in which said actor plays a small role) would premiere on 13th. February, which it did.

So all day long, this crazy, never-sleeping fan kept searching the web for news, infos, pictures and videos, but wasn't too successful at first.

The first clue that I found - which was shared by several news websites - was that above mentioned actor said that it would be nice to have a black pope. (Now, that coming from a man who has outlived 7 popes [Pius XI (1922-1939), Pius XII (1939-1958),  John XXIII (1958-1963), Paul VI (1963-1978), John Paul I (1978), John Paul II (1978-2005), Benedict XVI (2005-2013)]

Now, this actor is certainly not the only one who would want (or could imagine) a black pope, some family members and friends have suggested that as well when Benedikt XVI decided to quit. (I just wonder why suddenly everyone wants a black pope, are those people - and most of all someone who played the Death and the Devil on several occasions - expecting a black pope to automatically hold black masses?) [My brother means a black pope would be cool, because he'd probably make a good Hip Hop and Rap personality, given the robes, jewels and golden chains they wear by default. Sounds legit, but my question here would be, how would the new pope's acceptance speech sound? Would he start out with the words "Yo BrothaZ & SistaZ" or would he just say "Yo Homies"?]

But popes aside, there was work to be done, the Internet to be searched.

Late in the evening, it was almost (Mr.) Midnight, the first photo appeared in the Berliner Zeitung. ("geschlossene Gesellschaft" means "private"). Why the picture was released when it was already dark outside can only be speculated about - not mentioning a certain movie role here, as the Bild Zeitung and other places have done all day long already, and at some point even I don't find it funny anymore. >.<)

Later the night, more stuff started to appear, as if it was magic. (Oooor maybe the people who had been to the Berlinale finally managed to get home and/or find a quiet space with their portable computers to upload new images and videos). Or maybe it WAS magic, since after all, we have the wizard 'Saruman The White' here.

A Fan-made video which I found on YouTube shows this wonderful actor's arrival at the red carpet of the Berlinale. (Bear in mind that he will be 91 years old in May, and that he had an accident on the set of the movie "The Resident" in which he injured a vertebra).

There are plenty of images now from various news websites, and surely more will surface once the other people who were at the Berlinale wake up.

For me the question is now "To Be or Not To Be" or rather , To Sleep or Not To Sleep, because as I am finishing this article about a day in the life of a fan, the digital clock on my computer shows 5:48 am.

(Note: He probably played the role the news media always attaches to him less often than he played Germans).

The one and only, Sir Christopher Lee @ the 63th. Berlinale @ 13.02.2013

Vacamus Papam

This is one of the days where I wish I hadn't slept til after lunch. (But obviously, I did).

When I (slowly) woke up and rolled out of bed  around 1.30 pm, the news reported that Pope Benedikt XVI decided to step down from his "job" by February 28th, 2013 (due to reasons of old age and declining health). A lot of people were surprised and shocked by this.

So until a new Pope is elected, "Vacamus Papam". (latin: vacare = not have)

Heroic Villains - Website now live!

My new Website "Heroic Villains" is now live at:

http://kryptos973281.wix.com/heroic-villains

It is dedicated to the 6 people featured on it. :)

Happy New Year 2013!

First of all, Happy New Year 2013 to everyone who reads this. :)

We have, against all odds of the Mayan Calendar, managed to survive into 2013 (but I think mainly because *we* had our new calendars already printed, and ready to put on the wall at the turn of the year - would have been a waste otherwise).

I hope 2013 will be a good and prosperous year for everyone who reads this (and for the writer of this blog, naturally).

I'm looking forward to the many things that are going to be happening this year, for example the release of the movies "Dead In 5 Heartbeats" and "Clear Lake" in my country (hopefully, anyway, given I live in the weird wilderness of nowhere!)

I'm also looking forward to the 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery, which is due to be happening on August 8th, 2013. It's highly likely that only the UK will get a good media coverage of it, though, because well, that's where it happened! I know that only a handful of the people who took part in the Great Train Robbery are alive now, but to those I wish all the best.

May God not only save the Queen, but also everyone who was mentioned in the Sex Pistols' song "No One Is Innocent", and also the following: JLL, ROA, YA, BS, FJK, FG, SC, WK, RGT, JPA, JGJ, SPS, SPMC.

*shoots fireworks*

HAPPY 2013 EVERYONE!

A Merry/Happy X-Mas... and stuff!

So we survived the end of the Mayan Calendar - which is not too surprising, given that the 21st fell on the worst possible day *ever* for the world to end for reasons I mentioned in my last post.

Upcoming world-end-predictions can always be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

But we won't know for sure that it happens, until it happens.

On that note, after surviving yet another world end (and hey, wasn't there one already in the year of 1984, which actually is my year of birth?) I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2013.

I have noticed that - despite it being Christmas - everyone seems to be quite active online, be it on Twitter, Facebook or various online games. Modern day Christmas time!

Of course there are always some more old fashioned ways to send Christmas greetings, which I also used, in form of Christmas Cards and Telephone Calls to people who are dear to me.

That's it for now - happy and all fed from 3 Christmas-y food-devouring days - but I'll be back to annoy you again in a few days, when we turn over the calendar to 2013 (or throw the old 2012 calendar out, for that matter!)

The End of the World

So today is the 21.12.2012, which is supposed to be the end of the Mayan calendar, and a lot of people believe, also the end of the world.

There's a couple of things though that don't fit in.

First of all, the weather outside looks rather anti-apocalyptic, just plain old fog, thick enough to cut, no signs of meteors, infernos, or anything like that.

Then there are time zones.

What time zone will the end of the world actually choose? It can't be the Australian one, as we would be long dead by now. (And who knows, maybe the Australians are, a friend who is rather chatty hasn't written any e-mails recently - but then, he could just be busy with work!) My time zone still has a good 7.5 hours left til the end of the day, so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

But what is with places, for example the U.S. State of Arizona, where there are 2 different time zones, or rather, part of the population uses daylight savings time, and part of it doesn't. Will the end of the world obey to the daylight savings time, and kill some people sooner and others later?

I can't guarantee that the world will still be here tomorrow, but I'd like to point out that - if I was the end of the world - I wouldn't have picked such a lousy, foggy old winter day. (Personally, I would have stayed in bed to begin with, as the cold from outside is creeping through the doors and windows, despite the heat being turned up to full. So if the end of the world has any common sense, it would have stayed in bed too, and would not happen, at least not today).

Prisoner of Censorship

"Lately I've Been Leanin' Toward The Blues."

Not really, but in a metaphorical way. It gets kind of sad if, in 2012, roughly 67 years after Hitler's death and after the end of World War II, one thing has not changed one bit. Censorship. It is probably worse now than it was back then.

Granted, nowadays you don't have a Hitler or a Goebbels sit on the top showing you only what they want you to see. Over the years censorship has become more and more secret and hidden, and it will strike you most viciously when you least expect it.

I'm constantly being mocked by YouTube with stuff like:

"This video contains content from EMI, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."

"This video contains content from BMG_Rights_Management and EMI, one or more of whom have blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."

" Unfortunately, this UMG-music-content is not available in Germany because GEMA has not granted the respective music publishing rights."

"This video contains content from SME. It is not available in your country."

Not only is it neigh impossible to watch any Johnny Cash video that is up on YouTube due to aforementioned restrictions in Germany, and despite having pretty much every original CD, MC, DVD and LP of Johnny Cash that is/was availabe in Europe.

It's also impossible to watch a lot of music and comedy from many British entertainers.

And last but not least, you cannot even watch the Sex Pistols song "No One is Innocent" which they recorded with the famous "train robber" Ronnie Biggs in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1978.

"I Hung My Head."

Also metaphorically. It makes me wonder time and again, how record companies and institutions such as GEMA keep blocking videos in various countries, and thus blocking potential new fans of their recording artists past and present.

Here is an example from a real person, namely myself, that occured roughly 2 years ago. Wikileaks was just
getting famous after Julian Assange apparently "raped" 2 swedish women (in their own apartments, including
breakfast and train ticket). So I was finding out everything I possibly could about who this Assange is, what he is doing now and what he used to do in the past. (And I also know rather useless things, such as that he had been held in Wandsworth prison for a while, which is incidentally the same prison a certain train robber escaped from in 1965).

Anyhow, I was going along my way finding out stuff related to Wikileaks and Assange in the winter of 2010, and also came across a FREE (by Author) e-book of "Underground: Hacking, madness and obsession on the electronic frontier" which was co-authored by Assange. A few weeks later, when I was in our bookstore on the lookout for Christmas presents, I saw that book on the shelf, and bought it, despite already having the free e-book version.

If people like something, they'll buy it.

If people don't know about it in the first place due to restrictions in various countries, then record companies
need not wonder about the lack of fame and fortune.

And lastly, to our ubiquitous misfortune, songs and videos of wannabe-singers like Justin Bieber are freely
available, including at their record companies' website. Seriously, THOSE people should be put in Wandsworth and never let out.