How to abuse terrorism for entertainment

Note: I have nothing against Singapore. If this had happened in any other country, I would have written the same stuff.

Today was the national day in Singapore. Congratulations by the way. They have a parade every year, and this year, it was even broadcast on the internet, so I could watch it from far away, too.




It was basically the same as always: Lots of indoctrination, a lot of "don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" kind of stuff. The best part was when a guy said about being a Singaporean:"...to give and not to expect getting anything in return". Yeah... that sums up what it's like pretty well, haha.

The part that made me raise eyebrows was this: All of a sudden, in the middle of a dance scene, there was this news stations update that suggested there had been a terrorist attack, with smoke being visible and everything. It sounded very threatening and serious. Suddenly there was even a bomb squad in the stadium where the celebration was held, there were cars from the firefighters, and police boats in the bay. But it all turned out to be a trick to scare (= entertain?) people. But I can tell you one thing: Judging the tv images, the people in the stadium didn't find it funny at all. The way they looked rather reminded me of September 11th than any celebration day. It didn't work out at all.

In the video you can see how it started. I wish I could show you screenshots of people looking scared to death, but sadly, I didn't find any yet. I also think that the tv station might edit them out for the time when they release it to the public.

The strangest thing is that this happened in Singapore. Singapore is so uptight, they even have problems with homosexuality. But faking a terrorist threat just to excite people? Wow, they are really going the extra mile to do something amazing. And even more pathetic is that this was their excuse for presenting all their military personell and how well they COULD fight off terrorism if it came. Isn't there a mild way of showing off the military? Like just letting them march around the stadium? Duh.... they do that every year so why was it even necessary to do this.

If this happened in Germany on a parade, it would be like this: They would use "the history of Germany" as a theme, and lots of emperors and knights from ancient times would walk into the stadium first. Then people from the Weimar Republic, and then, hurray, people in nazi uniforms, and people representing jews in filthy clothes who are forced to walk into gas chambers. And all the nazi guys are doing the hitler greeting moves with their hands... yay... imagine that. It would be a worldwide scandal.

If only there wasn't so much censorship in Singapore, I bet the media there would bash everyone responsible for this outburst of craziness. I mean, the rest of the parade was okay, but you just don't play with terrorism like that.

Marit Larsen starts off at #15

Today is the day. I've anticipated for a long time, and whenever I talked to other Germans about Marit Larsen, it was always in this "you better remember that name" kind of way. And today it happened. Marit had her debut with the single "If a song could get me you" and she started off at #15 of the single charts. It's the very first week and she already has this position.

It's funny. Somehow I am losing this special feeling that I had until this point, which was the feeling that Marit would be my little secret in this country. Everyone was so ignorant of her here, and all the other fans in the world were far away. On the other hand, I can now finally refer to someone -famous- when I say that I met a celebrity, and not just say there is this singer/songwriter who is famous in many other countries but totally unknown here. At least I can say that I met someone who's in the top 20.

I also know I was once the biggest German Marit Larsen fan. Why am I so sure? Because I was the only one who posted on her message board, and I was crazy enough to meet up with her, and there was no other German fan around. Anyone who claimed to be as possessed would have had to at least participate to some point. I no longer claim to be the biggest fan here, I think other people might be more interested now, but at least I had my good times and I'm interested in what else is going to happen.

It's also important to know that this whole Marit Larsen thing happened 10 years ago. It was also the last time that Marit was on the German charts, and that was just in the top 100, somewhere around position 85, if I remember correctly. It was still with M2M, and you all know the song. Yeah, that was the song of our lives.

Marit is not the first M2M member to be in a high position in the German charts. Marion reached #9 last year with the help of Meat Loaf. It was already interesting back then to recognize her voice on the radio. But still, there was nobody who would have cared about the story behind it.

It's really cool and hard to believe. I guess only hardcore fans can imagine what it's like. Most people will ask why it's such a big deal, but to me, it's special because of the long history I have with Marit. Without Marit, I would be in a different job now, have a different girlfriend, would have visited different countries while not having visited the countries I have been to, I would be a completely different person. And I know it's hard to believe and many of you may mistake this for an illusion, but from the start, in 1999, I already had this feeling there was something about this Marit Larsen that would have an impact on me. Ever since I knew about her, I often imagined what it would be like to meet her, and whatever could happen. I know that marketing strategies give people an image of a person, but in her case, what's the strategy? She was virtually unknown, all there was were the music videos, there was no image. Somehow I noticed that she was a very interesting person.

I'm curious what will happen. She will be on tv here soon. Then there are concerts in November but I don't know if that's going to work for me. It doesn't have to, but we will see anyway. Maybe it would be enough to meet up with some old friends who have also been around on the internet. There is still a lot of stuff to get out of this whole Marit Larsen world.

Another Ralf Schumacher comeback silliness

T-online.de have done the same story twice. As you might know, Michael Schumacher is returning to Formula 1 for at least one race, replacing the injured Massa.

Now T-online.de are saying the same things they did many months ago. They basically ask: Is Ralf coming back, too? But all they do to support this speculation is to bring up things Ralf has already said so many times: That he did not actively approach any of the teams, but if he was asked, he would return.

Let me just say the same thing I said last time: Who wouldn't? Of all the ex-drivers, who of them would not return if they got an offer, unless the reason why they are not in F1 any more is because they actively retired? Who wouldn't?

I am not sure whether they re-used his old words or just asked him the same stupid stuff again. There were only few things that could somehow spice up the article. Ralf said he might go to Valencia to support his brother as a spectator. The rest of the article is just a roundup of the previous events: How Massa got injured, how Schumacher takes his place, and statements from Ralf declaring that Michael will be so great he will beat them all. Yeah... just what the German reader wants to read.

Final verdict: Ralf is STILL not returning to Formula 1. See you next time when there is another far-fetched excuse for more Ralf Schumacher speculation.