Reflections

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Kennemer Dunes 360° today. Spring [ birth of a nation ]

Min/max temperature: 4°C/23°C; humidity: 76%; precipitation: 0 mm; sea level pressure: 1031 hPa; wind: WSW 5.0 km/h; visibility: 14.0 kilometres; Clouds: few 2700 m.

"Our preoccupation with numbers, preferably growth figures (polls, ratings, stock market figures, budgets, salaries, penis length et cetera) hides the underlying fear to actually having to think. Before people start a discussion within a so called consultation council […] at first figures need to be produced and made visible; once read, every discussion is unnecessary. The figures are supposed to tell the truth about a certain supposed transparent reality automatically. Equal fear for the process of thinking appears in the well-meant suggestions to people 'in trouble': 'You just do not have to think about it too much, it serves no purpose, it makes matters only worse.' The next logical step is towards thought-restricting drugs of which the French designation -- 'des stupefiant' ('stupefying') -- speaks so much more clear than the semi-soft name calling 'tranquillizers' […] What we experience today is the degeneration of the importance of language on a broad social scale. When thinking can be understood as an externalised act, then the inability to think must lead to the occasion to act in itself. In this area infantilization takes place, which does have an effect on the aspects that characterises being human, namely the delusion of providing meaning. In this case: the effects of the inadequacy of providing meaning. The consequence then becomes agitation and acting [ that ] out. According to the classic formula, taking action will elicit a reaction."

Paul Verhaeghe in 'Het einde van de psychotherapie', page 222, 223, 224, 225, first published in 2010 by De Bezige Bij, The Netherlands (unauthorized translation from Dutch)

"Movies are written in sand: applauded today, forgotten tomorrow. […] I foresee no possibility of venturing into themes showing a closer view of reality for a long time to come. The public itself will not have it. What it wants is a gun and a girl. [on sound movies: ] It is my arrogant belief that we have lost beauty."

D.W. Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948)

"In a Hollywood movie, after the movie is over, there's nothing more. There is no relationship between the screen and the spectator. There's just a duration. If you don't like it, you go to sleep, the way I do. [ The ] movie is not on screen. The movie stems from moving. The movie is a mover. The move from the reality to the screen and back to the reality. And the screens are nothing, just shades. It's like a swimmer doing a crawl until he arrives at the end of the swimming pool and then turning and going back again. This is the screen. […] When you arrive, [...] the moviemaker [ is the swimmer ] ; and when you start, it's the spectator. […] I don't think you should feel about a movie. You should feel about a woman, but not about a movie. You can't kiss a movie. […] Let's have a look and talk about it, but certainly not feel about it. That's what the Church says, feel about God. [ I ] can't [ work for television ]. You get more mystified than ever. Unless you think you can address 20 million people and you have something important to say and think you can go through all this mystification to get to the people, it's very difficult. [ I ] make very small movies to show to fewer people more often. More movies to fewer people but much more often. So [ I ] can survive […] it's very natural. I couldn't do anything else. You have to know how to survive. You have to be optimistic, because the world situation is so bad. Marx said that. The very pessimistic situation makes me feel optimistic. I'm an optimist because things are so bad they must get better because they can't be worse than they are. It's the same today."

Jean-Luc Godard in 'Jean-Luc Godard: The Rolling Stone Interview A look behind the lens at the famed French new wave director of 'Breathless' and 'Band of Outsiders' by Jonathan Cott, first published in June 1969 by Rolling Sone, USA

"Trough the reading of the script and the impressions given [...] by the director, slowly one starts to realize what [ needs to be done ]. In [the ] hot Los-Angeles burning sun -- we had to make the [ 'Barfly' ] interior acceptable, though being able to look outside at the same time to see what happens there. You need to take that into account, it [ can be ] difficult to stack those small rooms up with light. They need to remain out of frame. And the interior scenes required a certain ambience. You need to take that into account. I had ordered these huge rigging-towers -- with reflection screens -- with 12Kw's that bounced inside. Always reflected, never direct. […] Would I have said in these multi-billion dollar film: 'guys here we should not use any [ additional ] light, it needs to be dark' -- then they would go with that. The hardest part is to get the team to go with that, they are all crusted heads. So when we arrive at a street-corner, daytime, to shoot a car driving by -- only that -- all kinds of equipment is brought in. The script car and electricity trucks, and they all stand in the way, they take a lot of space. I've experienced that! [ I ] have always said to students -- when I had them in a workshop -- : '… the case is, when looking at the rushes and everybody applauds you because they look so great, when you think for yourself that it is not so good, than it is not so good. Because other people tend to believe pretty quickly that things look great. They see a sunset and it looks nicely orange, but you did not have to do anything to accomplish that, it always works. But there are also more complicated situations. With Friedkin, that was good working. He knew how to listen. We then had a complicated shot, with a car. It arrives at a terrain getting into a hangar. Shot with a crane, from top to ground. I then said: '… but why cover it in different shots? It can just drive in and we pan with the camera and the car can drive trough. […] Theoretically there are three possibilities. Dusk is short. Shoot a shot at dusk with the exact perfect light. One before that in touch over and one afterwards, which will just be doing fine. In twenty minutes we have three takes to shoot.' He understood that, and then started to organise very strictly the whole situation. We then immediately shot the first take and you get it all within schedule. But you need people who know how to react."

Robby Müller in 'Interview Robby Muller (2007)' first published in 2008 on the Netherlands Society of Cinematographers website (authorized translation from Dutch)

" [ Unless ] you know how [ a style ] is done, you say, 'What the hell is the idea? Where is it?' You keep looking for some kind of justification. Our brains are designed to see signs and put them together into a story. [ The ] brain always tries to read stories into things, and as every edit is a story in its own right, the brain can't accept it and begins to link them all together."

Lars von Trier in 'Framing, A Symposium on Cinematography; On Random Framing -- Automavision', page 142, 143, edited by Andreas Fisher-Hansen, Igor Koršič and Tina Sørensen (unpublished manuscript)

SAR_13(/14)_discipline

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Above: Footprint after today's 30K SAR13

"Discipline is the spark that ignites the fire of a habit." - Mark Divine

Read more: http://www.sealfit.com/blog/marks-blog-excerpt-way-seal/

Graffity wallpainting by Melle: https://www.facebook.com/MelleGraffiti

SAR_sarsential™_toolbox_6/14

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Above: PGIA¹ SAR² 30 KMS BLMTT³. Sarsential 6: website-based-workflow [ i.e.: resourceful environment] for PGIA-application. 

From first SAR-injury-control-narrative, posted on this website, earlier this year:

(1, March 13 2014 16:20) Ice after training gives this great relief. It helps prevent injuries; a natural inflammation inhibitor. While the ice melts over time, the flipside of the coin is that it gives wet feet and leaves footprints all over the place: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/67-30k-post-sar-footprint?showall=&start=1

(2, March 15 2014 17:21) Today the 'A' in SAR stands for 'Antertainment'. Like a Hollywood block-buster, that deals with a problem (zombies, monsters, terrorists from within the own troops, corruption, greed, fear) an injury is best treated as just that, Entertainment, a break from routine, FUN to deal with -- to be experienced as a major challenge. Training continues, while we take care of our injury (treating the effect, healing the injury and attacking the overload causing it, through improvement of the technique, eliminating the cause). My experience of today followed these steps: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/68-footprint-post-sar-2

(3, Tuesday, March 18 2014 17:14) Todays training dedicated to Bastiaan Houtkooper and his web-hosting company 'Zebra hosting'. In a (telecom-)world dominated by moguls and morons, Bastiaan founded, owns and operates a state of the art web-hosting company -- his costumer support and brilliance in trouble shooting is beyond comparison, rooted in deep empathy and years of experience as high-end cinematographer for commercials mainly: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/69-footprint-sar-3

(4, March 21 2014 17:56) There is an excellent study to be found on the SSI Website (Strategic Studies Institute). From the booklet 'Forging an American Grand Strategy: Securing a Path Through a Complex Future Selected Presentations From a Symposium at the National Defense University' (pag.80): "... Our greatest problems are not political; they are biological. Specifically [...] that science and anthropology converge to prove that the human brain has not evolved to keep up with human progress. Complexity has outpaced the brain’s ability to process it. This causes it to hit [...] a cognitive threshold, defined as the difference between the slow speed at which the human brain can evolve and the rapid rate at which complexity grows": http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/70-sar-4-footprint

(5, March 25 2014 17:16) ZCZCSA251655 EHAM AMSTERDAM/SCHIPHOL NLD -3 m.: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/71-sar-5

(6, Saturday, March 29 2014 18:18) Footprint after 32K SAR-training: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/72-sar-6

(7, Tuesday, April 08 2014 15:05) Footprint SAR_7: rain and sun and wind lend supportive-atmosphere to today's-training: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/73-sar-7-clear-pond-plunge

(8, Sunday, April 13 2014 13:41) http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/74-sar-8

(9, Wednesday, April 16 2014 16:04) SAR_9 footprint [ … ] SAR training is Kick-Ass-training: taking-over from previous 'management' (that led to overload and injury -- usually fear driven management) and re-establish control ("Get in, get it over with and get out! "). Change requires collaboration on all levels. Trough the creation of unity the runner leads/inspires/guides/informs/balances the transformation at hand. It requires growth from egotistical overload-behaviour towards- and transformation into- an Alert-balanced runner, who emphatically and sensibly controls his behaviour. SAR training is focussed upon improvement of technique and efficiency. Trough Strategic use of available resources, including time, terrain, weather, technical-support -- and injury treatment, food and rest: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/75-sar-9-injury-control-interim-management

(10, Saturday, April 19 2014 14:20) When we have dealt with the acuteness of the injury (cause and treatment of the injury and attention to technique) we arrive at a cross-point where we move on to start building up pressure and focus on further progression and loyal running-fun. SAR training on the threshold of returning to best level: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/77-sar-10-threshold

(11, Tuesday, April 22 2014 16:42) [B]est level is achieved when intensity and frequency are balanced. Balanced frequency and intensity lead to progression and growth and fun: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/78-sar-11-dirt-dive

(12, Thursday, April 24 2014 14:42) "All good things come in fourteen's" - Anonymous: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/79-sar-12-14-terminology

(13, Saturday, April 26 2014 13:50) "Discipline is the spark that ignites the fire of a habit." - Mark Divine: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/80-sar-13-14

(14, Tuesday, April 29 2014 15:40) Footprint after completion 32K SAR14 [ … ] Change requires collaboration on all levels. Trough the creation of unity the runner leads/inspires/guides/informs/balances the transformation at hand. It requires growth from egotistical overload-behaviour towards- and transformation into- an Alert-balanced runner, who emphatically and sensibly controls his behaviour: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/81-sar-14-14-epilogue-secured

¹ Photo Generated Injury Analysis

² Strategic Alert Running

³ Best Level Mixed Terrain Training

SAR_3_along_the_way

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Above: Footprint after todays 32K SAR dune-beach training

"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain, as quoted today by George Friedman in 'Borderlands: The New Strategic Landscape'

"Our feet flattened, our backs straightened, our buttocks strengthened their muscular arrangements to permit us to run. And as more and more we became specialised earthlings, so more and more it became anatomically impossible for us to return to the arboreal life. Such trends take place in an evolving world. A minor alteration of behaviour and body, a change of equivocal value, may command that further genetic alteration beer of increased specific value until a course is determined, and horses are set upon their way, men upon theirs. Now evolution becomes irreversible.

As important as our anatomical adjustments to the terrestrial life were the psychological changes which such life commanded. Shyness is a luxury permitted the mountain gorilla in his high, remote, cloud-softened bamboo thickets. The modesty once demanded of the tiny, primitive mammal in his monster-dominated times retained a value in the lives of jungle primates with profound green tangles of vine and leaf in which they might vanish. But for the ape of the field in those long-gone Miocene times, hiding places might be far from hand. Not unlike the baboon today, the aggressive spirit became a survival asset. Time and again we had no alternative but to stand and fight. And the social necessity, since the time of the true lemur a primate compulsion, doubled and redoubled its survival value."

Robert Ardrey, T'he Territorial Imperative', page 255 (published in 1966)

"The drive to maintain and defend a territory can be regarded not as a cause but only as a condition of human war. One can recognise its workings in the fury of a Finland attacked by a monstrous large enemy; in the madness of Hungarians attempting to reassert their land's integrity; or in the lonely, irrational heroism of the Battle of Britain, when never did so many owe so much to so few.
These were defensive social actions taken in strict accordance with territorial law and deriving from profound instinct the unbelievable magnitude of their energy. But in every case territory was the condition of war, not its cause.

Robert Ardrey, from: 'African Genesis' (1961) as quoted on page 245 of TTI

"For Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Azerbaijan […] there is not yet an emergency. But one could materialize with surprising speed. The Russians are not intrinsically powerful, but they are more powerful than any of these countries alone, or even together. Given American strategy, the United States would be prepared to begin providing aid, but substantial aid requires substantial action on the part of the buffer countries.

The first and second world wars were about the status of Germany in Europe. That was what the Cold War was about as well, although framed in a different way. We are once again discussing the status of Germany. Today it has no western threat. The eastern threat is weak, far away and potentially more of an ally than a threat. The force that drove Germany in two world wars is not there now. Logically, it has little reason to take risks."

George Friedman, 'Borderlands: The New Strategic Landscape'