The European Union

Some years ago, there were referendums in every country belonging to the European Union to adopt a common constitution.

This project went down the drain because the French and Dutch voters posted a majority of NO.

Some months later my brother in law told me he had voted against it. "Why did you do this", I asked him. "Well", he said, "I voted against it because I did not know what they were up to".



This guy is a very decent chap, good family man, very friendly. Nevertheless, he rejected a project only because he was too lazy to find out what was going on.

It's a fact: far too many people do not seem to know what a united Europe has done to them. At every election for the European Parliament voters' participation goes down. Now it was 42 % in Germany, 33 % in France and 25% in Poland. Just to give an example.

Before the creation of the EU, there were not even a dozen years without a war, in any century. That fact alone should make all of us sturdy supporters of the idea.

But no!

On this planet, nothing is permanent. And it could well be that in fifty years from now, the EU is only a souvenir. Thanks to its lukewarm citizen who let it happen.

It might be useful to quote here Albert Einstein: Only human stupidity gives us an idea what infinity really means.

MUSIC LOVERS OF THE WORLD UNITE

There are very few people who are indifferent to music, like Captain Hornblower of the Royal Navy. And his excuse was to be tone deaf.

What amazes me however is the wide variation of music itself and what people consider to be wonderful (cool in neoworld language) and what this or that kind of music means to them.

For instance: my father-in-law used to start into annual vacation a little after midnight, because there was less traffic. In order to stop him from dozing off while driving he usually switched to Arabic music. "Keeps me awake", he said and never more about this subject.

Years ago, I saw an Indian movie "Jalsaghar- The Music Room" from Satajit Ray. Basically, it was about an impoverished Indian prince who loved music and dancers but had to sell some valuables in his palace in order to hire both for a performance. Somewhere during the action he hears in the distance an Indian "oompah" band playing a kind of marching music. He says something like: "everything is going down the drain, now they even play this crappy music from Europe". For him, European music was that, badly played, badly chosen, barbaric. By the way, the Indian music and dancing in this film is splendid.

As to me, I know what I like and what I dislike. However, I am totally unable to explain this. The longer you discuss the subject the more you get off the mark.

What you are invited to listen to here is certainly a YouTube sideline but give it a try nevertheless.

Meet Margret Almer, she is a yodler, a real good one. Having heard her first time, I jumped at Amazon to get the CD. But there is a difference to see her performing. When I play YouTube on the PC, my wife comes and listens with a smile though she does not understand German: "joyful music", she says, "heartwarming".

Hope you like it, too. If not, well, don't make any bones out of it, nothing personal, just rot in peace.



To know more about her, I had a look at Wikipedia. She won prices at Austrian and German folk festivals and published three CD's. But she never made a breakthrough. She is currently working at the Austrian Postal Administration. Sad, isn't it?






My blogger friend Vinod Sharma from New Delhi sent me this Yodel song from India. That's called intellectual outsourcing.

http://www.allpunjabi.com/songs/6229/Main_Hoon_Jhoom_Jhoom_Jhumroo.html