Friday Gallery: Walls

I had missed that Friday Gallery started up again in September due to our move to a new country (I think I'm excused for missing it!), but now with life having returned to some sort of normalcy, I should be able to blog on a more regular basis.  So here's the first post for October.  Birgitta is our hostess (as in picking the themes) this month and for today she has picked "walls".

Today I can only think of one thing when I think of "walls", and that is the grim pictures from the latest accident involving people wanting to get to Europe from across the Mediterranean.  Over 100 are dead and even though many have been rescued from the burning and sinking boat, about 200 are still unaccounted for.  I know the issue is very complex (or, you could actually argue it is not), but in principle I think we should really welcome everybody.  I don't like so-called Fortress Europe.  If we had more normal routes for migration, whether it is political, economic or human reasons, we wouldn't thousands of people arriving dead (or never arriving at all) on the shores of Europe.

Image borrowed

When Do They Work?

Feeling extra European this past weekend (will report on the elections soon - but probably not on this blog; will keep you posted), I thought of an article on European habits that I read a few weeks ago.

Apparently French people spend the most time sleeping and eating, and because of it (?) they live longer. The French gets an average of 9 hours of beauty sleep per day while the Japanese and Korean (okay, I guess this study was wider than just Europe...) sleep only seven hours and 50 minutes per day. One hour difference may not sound that much but if you think about the difference in a given week (63 compared to 56) or in a given month (252 vs 224), you will feel pretty sorry for the Asians in questions!

According to the study the French also spend more time on cooking and eating that anyone else and nearly double that of Americans (no surprise there; it's the fast-food nation after all) and Canadians. The Japanese may not sleep but they spend almost as much time on eating as the French - two hours daily at the table. Italians and Belgians are also pretty good at taking their time at the table. The Swedes are in the middle of the league table with an hour and half a day eating.

The French and the Japanese live as long though - 84.4 and 86 respectively for women - so life expectancy must be about more than just sleeping and eating since they scored quite different results, at least when it comes to sleep. And apparently the Spaniards live long too - 84.4 for wome - even though they didn't come out on top on any of the indicators.

The survey also revealed some not so surprising gender differences. In Italy men have around 80 minutes more a day of leisure time than women. Sad. 80 minutes is quite a lot! Stark contrast to Norway where men and women have the same amount of spare time.

But I wonder, with all that sleeping and eating, when to the French work??

Questions for Europe

Learn more about the EU and European politics on this site. You can no longer submit your own video questions but you can read up on a variety of topics! And don't forget to vote this weekend!

Eurovision Revision

Found this on someone's blog. Missed ESC myself so needed a proper account of the show.

Tonight, I am drinking: Cider

20.02: What the shit is this? Guys in grey clothes and corpse paint prancing around the stage. Cirque de Soleil. Weren’t they in an episode of CSI? Oooh, look, a unicycle. Where are the songs? Wooh, some Samoan twirling fire. WHERE ARE THE FUCKING SONGS?

20:05: Graham Norton: “This is genius, I just love this.” Yeah? Well, Terry would have been taking the piss. I miss Terry. Tonight’s going to suck.

20:10: Finally, some music. Last year’s winner from Russia. Don’t remember it from last year, but it sounds like the kind of shit the winner from American Idol would churn out as their victory single.

20:12: Here come the hosts. Please don’t do the usual flirty thing – she’s way hotter than him and it would just look ridiculous. Y’know, just like it does every year.

20:13: 25 songs? Sheeeeit.

20:14: Lithuania. Kid’s been watching American Idol and picked the look of the kid who got hoofed off a couple of weeks ago. What’s with the hat? And those fucking sideburns.

20:16: Jesus, that’s one skinny little shit. I could spit at him and snap bones. Nice enough song though. A little tedious, maybe.

20:18: Israel. An Israeli Jew and an Israeli Arab in a plea for understanding and unity and shit. Ironically, it’s making me want to go out and kill.

20:22: France. Fuck ‘em. She's either about to cry or she’s doped up on some shit ‘cos her eyes look like pissholes in the snow. Also, James just woke up and cried while this song was playing and if you can get that kinda reaction from an 18 month old then you deserve to lose.

20:26: Sweden. It’s like Ulrika Johnson put on a few pounds and started singing Opera over a Kylie b-side.

20:29: Croatia. Sounding oddly Spanish.

20:33: Portugal. Starts off sounding a bit Green Day-ish (Good Riddance, Time of your Life) then in comes the accordion and ruins everything. Chorus sounds familiar and now I’m going to spend the rest of the night trying to figure out what it reminds me of until I either remember in a moment of inspiration or get drunk enough to forget about caring.

20:38: Iceland. Fuck me, she’s wearing a dress that looks like it’s been stolen from a Disney princess. Pleasant enough song. I won’t be rushing out to buy it, though. Mind you, I won’t be rushing to illegally download the MP3 for free, either. In conclusion: fuck Iceland.

20:42: Greece. This guy seems to have learnt how to dance from repeatedly watching Hugh Grant in Music & Lyrics. Also, the gayest song of the night so far.

20:54: Went for a cigarette and to get the alcohol (Booze! Yay!) so only caught 30 seconds of Armenia (don’t think I missed much) and completely missed some bird from Russia wearing a pair of curtains. Got back to catch half of Azerbaijan. Tribal drums, repetitive chorus, usual Euro blah blah blah.

20:57: Bosnia & Herzegovna. There’s a guitarist playing but I can’t actually hear any guitar. How odd. Also, they look like they’ve tried to style themselves on a white version of My Chemical Romance’s outfits from the Black Parade video. Also, these guys have supported The Rolling Stones? WHY?! Is there that few bands in B&H that actually rock?

21:01: Moldova. I love these countries that send their singers out in traditional costumes. Next year, we should send some Morris Dancers, some Pearly Kings and Queens and a couple of Geordies with their shirts off. Weirdly, I quite like this one. It helps that it sounds like the girl is singing “I’m a whore-a from Moldova.” Nice.

21:05: Graham Norton is beginning to get on my tits. Bring back Terry. NOW.

21.06: Malta. Oh, Graham, you’re such a funny fucker. She’s a larger lass and you’ve made a joke about her never having met a Malteser she didn’t like it. Geddit? Malteser, ‘cos she’s Maltese and Maltesers are chocolates? Ha fucking ha. Kindly FOAD. Oh, the song? Sucks balls. Oh, another unfunny fat joke. I want to stab Graham in the eye with a rusty spoon.

21:09: Estonia. They’ve hired Bond, taught one of them how to sing, then put them in co-ordinated outfits. Seriously, it’s like one of those modern classic videos you’d catch on the O Channel. Except I wouldn’t, because I mainly watch Scuzz.

21:13: Denmark. Apparently, this song was written by Ronan Keating from Boyzone and it’s being performed by a guy who could probably make a decent living as a Ronan Keating tribute act. Ironically, Ireland failed to make it through to the finals this year, for the second year on the bounce. Note to Ireland: next year, get Ronan to write and sing for you. You might get somewhere.

21:17: Germany. Imagine Ricky Martin covering Mambo No. 5 while accompanied by a couple of birds dressed as the blonde from ‘Allo ‘Allo. But they have Dita Von Teese with them so, y’know, I’ll forgive them.

21:21: Turkey. I didn’t know Shakira was Turkish.

21:25: Albania. WTF?

21:28: Norway. Ok, so that line about wanting to slap the singer was quite amusing but I still want Terry back, dammit. Holy shit, this is the favourite? This sucks donkey dick. Is this kid even old enough to shave? Oh, and his eyebrows have me convinced that he’s a werewolf. I hope its not a full moon in Moscow tonight, otherwise people are going to have to keep off the moors.

21:32: Ukraine. OK, now beating Greece for gayest song of the night. The singer looks like a trap and he/she’s been accompanied by three guys in cast-off Gladiator outfits.

21:37: Romania, and me and the wife are getting into conspiracy theories about the mysterious girl in blue at the back with the mic. My theory? She’s a backing singer.

21:40: United Kingdom. And we’re singing another winner’s song from American Idol. Sadly, a shit one. We deserve nul points after this. In conclusion, fuck Lloyd Webber.

21:46: Finland. I want this to win. This rocks. Srsly. FINLAND FTW.

21:48: Shut up, Norton, I liked that. Again, Finland FTW.

21:49: Spain. With a song written by some Swedes. Being sung by the chick from Transporter 2, apparently. She should have brought some guns along with her, it would have made it more entertaining than this sub-par Holly Vallance effort. Or just had Jason Statham come on stage and kicked the living shit out of a bunch of d00ds for 5 minutes. I’d have voted for that. Srsly, Finland FTW.

P.S.:So, Norway have won by a record number of points with a song that isn't, like, good while the UK came 5th with a song which, frankly, reeked of shit. Finland, on the other hand, came stone cold last. The lesson to be learnt from this is, I guess, that next year we have to send the shittiest act we can find. Bombalarina for the win!

Best Right Now

Intermission in the Swedish competition ahead of Eurovision (i.e. just a bonus performance, NOT one of the competing songs).



But the Russian Embassy in Stockholm is not too happy and wants an official apology from Swedish Television...Maybe because this year's Eurovision actually takes place in Moscow. What do you think?

The Lisbon Treaty and the Irish

Please Ireland, vote yes today! Since you're the only ones having a referendum on ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, you're holding its future in your hands! The EU cannot spend another four years on a new treaty (we all remember what happened with the Nice Treaty)!

I have written about the benefits of the EU several times before, for example here, here, here, here, here and here.

Updated: an older post specifically on the EU constitution (that has now been renegotiated into the Lisbon Treaty).

The European Story

One of the professors from my Masters programme at Oxford, Timothy Garton Ash, has started an interesting web project ahead of the EU's 50th anniversary encouraging people to contribute to the "story of Europe". Garton Ash has written a first draft around six goals that he thinks most Europeans aspire to: Freedom, Peace, Law, Prosperity, Diversity and Solidarity.

Join in the debate or vote for your favourite story!

What Has Europe Ever Done for Us?

"It's not an uncommon question and one that is not unreasonable. Europe's contribution to your daily life is not always obvious, but decisions taken on a European level have fundamentally improved thousands of small and big things ranging from cheaper phone calls to European wide health coverage."

Tell a friend!