Unul din simbolurile sperantelor de la inceputul anilor 90 este aruncat in strada pentru ca nu-si poate plati chiria. Cine isi mai aminteste de Cristian Paturca, de Piata Universitatii in primele luni ale lui 1990, cine isi mai aminteste de acele vremuri in care romanii pareau sa aiba o sansa la o viata mai buna?

Pacat de el si de societatea romaneasca care ii impartaseste soarta…

This is what carrying the Olympic torch thru San Francisco looked like:
The first torchbearer held the Olympic flame aloft triumphantly. She waved to the crowd and set off — and promptly ran into a warehouse.(src).
After, of course, being carried thru London (seconds 25 thru 35 are particularly telling) and Paris (carrying the torch in a bus amids boos and police on roller-blades stands out).

I am wondering if the IOC realizes what these events are doing to its brand (*) because lately the Olympic torch has become the symbol of collaboration with a brutal regime which has to be put out rather than a symbol of peace and fraternity. I am also wondering how things will play out in Beijing, because this is where the next episode of this saga will probably play. Right now the torch is safely out of the Western world where dissent is allowed (**) and it is passing thru a string of authoritarian regimes where it will not encounter any serious resistance.
I would not be too surprised if the Olympic stadium will be empty, most of the Olympic tourists preferring to stay at home. I would not be too surprised if the Chinese government would fill this stadium with people picked up at random from the street. And I would not be too surprised if we will have some similar incidents in Beijing as well. If we do have these incidents the last place that I would be in is in IOC’s shoes: they would pretty much have to wait on the sidelines and pray that the Chinese government will not quell these dissenters (which happen to be all IOC customers) with too much brutality.

Personally, I think that these events are good. They are bringing home to the IOC the dangers of doing business with dictatorships: they could devalue your brand and beat the hell of the people that believe in your values in front of the cameras. Maybe they will think twice before awarding the place where the next Olympic games will take place…

* Unlike the IOC the Chinese government doesn’t have these PR problems. It will probably continue to act the way that it does, brutally that is, after all its interests lie exclusively in providing cheap labor to the Western world and using the gains from it for consolidating its regional position. China is light years away from having any meaningful dialogue with a regular guy living in the Western world.

** The fact that the IOC banks on the success of this torch-bearing missing on collaboration with authoritarian regimes will not be lost on many. If I were in a decision-making position within the IOC I would play down the passing of the torch thru these countries because it would stress this collaboration even more. After all, IOC’s main customer is living in the Western world and you probably don’t want to alienate it by playing down its values…

Au dessus des vieux volcans,
Glisse des ailes sous les tapis du vent,
Voyage, voyage,
Eternellement.
De nuages en marécages,
De vent d’Espagne en pluie d’équateur,
Voyage, voyage,
Vole dans les hauteurs
Au dessus des capitales,
Des idées fatales
Regardent l’océan…

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l’espace inouï de l’amour.
Voyage, voyage
Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Et jamais ne revient.

Sur le Gange ou l’Amazone,
Chez les blacks, chez les sikhs, chez les jaunes,
Voyage, voyage
Dans tout le royaume.
Sur les dunes du Sahara,
Des iles Fidji au Fujiyama,
Voyage, voyage,
Ne t’arrêtes pas.
Au dessus des barbelés,
Des coeurs bombardés
Regardent l’océan.

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l’espace inouï de l’amour.
Voyage, voyage
Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Et jamais ne revient.

Au dessus des capitales,
Des idées fatales
Regardent l’océan.

Voyage, voyage
Plus loin que la nuit et le jour, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Dans l’espace inouï de l’amour.
Voyage, voyage
Sur l’eau sacrée d’un fleuve indien, (voyage voyage)
Voyage (voyage)
Et jamais ne revient.

I am testing a few things with my RSS feed, it will change the way it exposes the contents of this blog.

I hope it will not create much of a disruption.

Tel que raconté par le maitre.

This post is also erased.

I came back from a vacation that we spent in Romania and this would be a summary of my impressions:
Now that I think about it I don’t really care about these impressions anymore, therefore this post is erased.

Thanks for the interest!!

The great tenor passed away on September 6 2007. A sad day…

Dacă vi se pare că nu-i aşa, luaţi-vă o zi de concediu şi aşezaţi-vă, preţ de cîteva ore, pe o bancă din centrul unui oraş în care nu vă cunoaşte nimeni. Lăsaţi acasă telefonul mobil, nu vă cumpăraţi ziare şi ţineţi ochii larg deschişi privind lumea din jur. La început e greu, aproape imposibil, apoi, uşor-uşor, o veţi simţi din ce în ce mai aproape. Vă va curge prin vene, vă va face să redescoperiţi mirosuri din copilărie şi sunete uitate.

Robert Turcescu.