… our complementary view to the busy side of life
M.C. Escher, a Dutch graphic designer/artist born 120 years ago – he keeps going viral on social media and almost has pop star status. Who doesn’t know his graphics? Impossible perspectives, metamorphoses and optical illusions are the programme in his pictures and an almost endlessly repeated theme. A brilliant visionary!
Continue reading “Respect (Part 2)”
Nutmeg then developed into the gold rush of East India in the 16th century, the first significant case of drug procurement-related crime. The Portuguese, British, Spanish and Dutch waged war over nutmeg and killed not only each other but also tens of thousands of locals on the side. Anyone who has so far thought drug cartels were exclusively in Latin America may now consider themselves first-degree know-it-alls. For they now know that Pablo Escobar, cocaine trafficking and the Medellin cartel are just cheap imitations of a 500 year-old “business model”.
Continue reading “A bit cracked… (Part 2)”
After my contribution on Corona, hoarding toilet paper and a resulting anal-ysis of symptom-associated know-it-alls, I was asked several times to expand on this topic. I confess, it was more fun than work. Enjoy the new squad of know-it-alls and smart alecks.
Candlelight, mulled wine and cracking nuts: all these remind me of childhood, are an integral part of winter and yes, it’s Christmas time. To ensure that feel-good factor, White Christmas is a permanent feature in the department stores and on the radio Chris Rea sings his way back into the hearts of truck drivers (and their wives, of course) every year with Coming Home for Christmas.
Continue reading “A bit cracked … (Part 1)”
Let’s start with a neutral version of the smart-ass, the know-it-all. Basically, the same applies here: Nobody likes know-it-alls! Unless he is a „Bezzerwizzer.“ Because Bezzerwizzer (corrupted German for “know-it-all”. Mattel couldn’t come up with a better name in English.) is a family game published by Mattel at the beginning of the new millennium. It is a knowledge game based on games like Trivial Pursuit or shows like “Who wants to be a millionaire? We realize that wise guys and bezzerwizers are not marginalized, they are a mainstream of our time.
Continue reading “What does CORONA have to do with toilet paper? – An attempt at an anal -ysis (Part 2)”
At first I was just amused, the first phase of the CORONA pandemic was somehow strange. Searching for relevant information about this dangerous pandemic, or, depending on my perspective, some new sort flu, I stumbled over and over again over the involuntarily funny contributions to toilet paper hoarding. Reports of brawls in supermarkets, toilet paper purloiners in hospitals and family tragedies with (but mostly without) toilet paper were the order of the day. Americans, Australians and many other nations shared a new fondness for beautifying their homes with rolls of toilet paper. OK, the French also hoarded large quantities of red wine and the Dutch experienced an additional run on their coffee shops – to quickly stock up on marijuana before they closed.
Continue reading “What does CORONA have to do with toilet paper? – An attempt at an anal-ysis (part 1)”
This emancipated woman obviously had not heard that according to Christian conviction only Jesus could walk on water. The most ingenious home-made filter system I have ever seen, together with a “guardian angel” – what a day.
(The picture was taken in 2012 while visiting the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing – also known as “the Egg”. )
“Zigger-zagger, zigger-zagger, oi oi oi!” is a battle cry that has been used for ages in sports and booze-ups. (Apparently originating in Germany and since adopted by Chelsea FC supporters.) Here now especially adapted for open air sex: ” Zigger-zagger, zigger-zagger hay hay hay”.
(Here the link to part 1: https://harlekin.blog/en/the-profit-center-a-doll-in-a-doll-part-1#more-2071.)
I cannot list all the problems that can arise with the introduction of a profit center organization, but for the interested reader here is an example of the hidden pitfalls of this system. The whole thing packed into one simple question:
Is a profit center manager, who, due to the “considerable” internal transfer price for the use of a meeting room of the “internal facility management”, capitalizes on a cheaper external room…
Continue reading “The Profit Center – a “doll in a doll”? (Part 2)”
Many readers will have worked or are still working in a profit center. It is possible that some of them have not been introduced to any other form of organization and therefore could not see any difference for “their work” at all. For this article I originally wanted to comment on a few personal experiences as ironic anecdotes. But since only few people know the phenomenon of profit centers (short PCs) from the perspective of management or finance, I decided to report a little more about the background and history of the PC.
Continue reading “The Profit Center – a “doll in a doll”? (Part 1)”Being able to exchange information promptly and over long distances has always been the decisive driving force behind new forms of communication. In most cases older practices have faded into the background and then – over time – been “forgotten”. Interesting migration paths of communication are to be found everywhere. Adults view the communication behaviour of their children or today’s youngsters critically (and with a degree of horror). And there we have it: we can hardly imagine these kids without smartphone, SMS and WhatsApp!
These means and forms of communication are nevertheless only the logical development of earlier communication forms such as carrier pigeons, postcards, telegrams and the local pub. By the way, these too were denounced at “their time” just as much as Twitter, Facebook and co..
New connectivity and changed communication in society is neither a reason for panic nor an obligation to join ranks. It is what it is – new technology – with its advantages, prejudices, trends and the necessity to deal with it.
This also includes the digital nomad scene as a new, hip form of work for young people. Like migrant workers and the Pony Express it is changing connectivity and creating new jobs for digital nomads. At the same time, however, it also create new problems that are usually not so readily reported on. We’ll take a look at a few of them in this article.
Continue reading “Digital Nomades – The herd moves on”
