La Passion De Jeanne D’Arc (AKA: The Passion of Joan of Arc) – 1928

Director – Carl Theodor Dreyer

Starring – Maria Falconetti

Quite possibly Carl Theodor Dreyer’s most influential work, The Passion of Joan of Arc owes a lot of it’s notoriety and it’s impact to it’s lead actress, Maria Falconetti.  The fear, and passion thatFalconetti conjures on camera througout the duration of the trial of Joan,  is not merely some plot point to enhance the story, it IS the story.

Staged almost entirely within the courtroom or her jail cell, the story of Joan of Arc is fairly straight forward, so much so that most people know the jist of it even if they don’t know that they know it.  Joan, the famous saint, and girl warrior, is on trial for her alleged heresy (actually she was only officially tried for wearing in-appropriate men’s clothing).  During this trial, everything from her value structure to her manner of dress is drawn into question.  Evidence is forged, and heavy eccliesiatic persuasion is used.  Through it all Joan held to her beliefs, and was eventually sentenced to death.  This is not a spoiler, it’s too well known to have spoiled anything.

From the opening shots of the courtroom, I was immediately struck by how upclose and invasive the camera work seemed to be.  Not invasive of the actors, but of me.  Shot in striking, uncomfortable close-ups, Joan’s accusers seem warped and distended.  Each face (with the exception of Joan’s) takes on a sinister look, frowning, sneering, and conspiring with a simple furrow of the brow.  Joan on the other hand, seems to have a perpetually wet, upturned gaze, similar to a lot of religious paintings.  She is given more room in the frame and as a result, she serves as a respite for us as viewers when she is on screen.

I tried my damnedest to watch it in it’s original silent state, but after catching myself nodding off a bit, I turned on the optional audio track of accompanying music.  Let me tell you…this helps SO much!  The music serves as a balast not only for the dramatic action happening on screen, but for pacing, dramatic effect, and as an additional means of engaging the audience.

One thing I was surprised about when watching this, was the over-all quality of image that this version (the Criterion Collection edition) offered.  I am used to these older films being so grainy and damaged that they seem almost blurry, so it was quite a surpise to find that the print was clear as a bell, with only a few scratches and flaws in the picture quality.  Another final critique, since this story is based on actual documentation of the court proceedings, the reach of the story seemed lacking.  I would have liked to have heard more about Joan’s deeds before her trial, whether or not they were truthful or distortions put forth by her accusers, it would have helped to liven up the story a bit.

By and large, The Passion of Joan of Arc was a pleasant surprise to me.  The image quality in particular, but also the acting, and pacing managed to avoid the trappings (read: length) that many other silent films fall into.  While there were slow moments, the last scene of the rioting villagers being fought off by palace guards was more than enough to smack me across the face.

yo! fiti pe faza .. astia putini care mai va pierdeti prin partea asta intunecata de net. Pe data de 4 iulie ora 16:00 pe terasa D’arc din unirii ( TIMISOARA) va avea loc un art event, avand ca invitati pe Dushky Adelina Jones si desigur Nego .. adik eu.

Ce se intampla defapt? .. poi treaba suna cam asa: U-man pune la bataie niste haine, din cate stiu momentan un tricou+hanorac pentru fiecare artist. Noi (astia cu mazgalitu) le vom desena in perioada desfasurarii eventului pe terasa D’arc sub ochii “fanilor” iar apoi dupa consumarea eventului hainele vor fi scoase, in zilele ce urmeaza, la vanzare in magazinul U-MAN. Asa ca fiti pe faza si poate va alegeti cu niste piese de vestimentatie UNICE!!

Future event @ Timisoara

Amendă sau taxă

Bă, aşa-i, dacă nu plăteşti taxă, plăteşti amendă, în general şi în particular. Şi culmea, că amenda vine fix de unde nu te-aştepţi. Am urlat pe străzi în toiul nopţii, am cântat, am dansat cu sticla de vin într-o mână în mijlocul străzii şi cu alţi nebuni în cealaltă, am băut pe plajă, în pieţe, parcuri, scări de bloc, bănci din faţa magazinelor, căcat, şi n-am avut treabă, şi vii la mine şi mă iei de mânuţă că cică beau în locuri publice când eu am ieşit cu berea-n mână din D’Arc că nu mai aveam aer şi picam acolo pe jos şi berea nu aveam un’ s-o las… Ironic, nu?

Alegeri dificile

Pot să înjur [c language="ăcat-căcat-căcat-căcat!!!"][/c], să plâng ca proasta, să mânc compulsiv până golesc frigiderul, să spăl ţ-şpe băi, podele şi faianţe, să beau ca ultima alcoolică, să-mi bag picioarele şi să mă duc la culcare, să mai înjur un pic şi apoi să-mi dau două palme, dar când tre’ să aleg nu mai merge cu ocolitul. E el sau ea, albă sau neagră, să cad sau să pic, să primesc bocanc sau toc în gură, să trăiesc sau nu, să stau sau să plec, prieteni sau iubit, să dau sau să iau, cu zahar sau fără, să şah sau să şah. Trebuie să aleg, e ca la loto. Şi de plătit tot plătesc, fie taxă, fie amendă, doar asta am învăţat acu’ câteva ore. Nu-i uşor, deloc.

Bărbaţi

Da, da, ştiu ce-am spus nu de mult, nu încerc acum să mă fofilez, dar dacă acum nu mi-am învăţat lecţia, n-o s-o învăţ niciodată. E ciudat cum se schimbă situaţiile, cum te afli odată de-o parte a baricadei şi peste câteva ore de cealaltă parte. Să fi cel care oferă şi este refuzat, apoi cel care refuză, dar pe altcineva. Amândouă situaţiile-s de rahat, sincer. Asta dacă nu eşti nesimţit, că dacă nu-ţi pasă e mult mai uşor. Mie-mi pasă şi m-am simţit ca un căcat când m-am pus pe tavă şi nu aia trebuia să fac [şi nu e vorba că n-a fost suficient, ştiu], şi atunci când am refuzat ceea ce eu oferisem nu de mult [şi mi-a fost foarte greu să rezist unora din cei mai frumoşi ochi pe care i-am văzut în toţi 24 de ani]. E ca în melodia aia cu tu îmi oferi kilometri de munţi când tot ce-mi doresc e doar un petec de mare. Odată ofer munţi, odată îmi doresc marea. Nicicum nu-i bine.

The Fifth Pillar of Amateur Radio: hiding in plain sight

“On Saturday, May 17 at the Dayton Hamvention, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, plans to announce that the League will expand its identity program to include greater emphasis on technology. Harrison explained that “Ham radio operators, and particularly ARRL members, closely identify with current and emerging radio technology.

Today, we are naming ‘technology’ as ARRL’s new fifth pillar.” ARRL’s other four pillars, the underpinnings of the organization, are Public Service, Advocacy, Education and Membership.

“For hams, expanding the four pillars to include technology will reinforce one of the organization’s guiding principles — that ham radio is state-of-the-art, innovative and relevant,” he said.” – The ARRL Letter Vol. 27, No. 19 May 16, 2008

Here comes everybody – http://eham.net

The ARRL (American Radio Relay League), and Amateur Radio by collateral damage, took a beating in http://eham.net on the above release from the ARRL  You can read the comments for yourself.

ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, tipped his hand (revealed a secret) when he made the statement “that ham radio is state-of-the-art, innovative and relevant”.  Of course, as observed by one writer in http://eham.net, if one has to publicly assert that amateur radio is relevant, state-of-the art, and innovative – then there exists an underlying perception to the contrary.

At least the threat of irrelevancy would be credible enough that it would motivate an organization to make such a statement.  What’s more, if an organization takes an action to mitigate what they say is not true in the first place then this demonstrates that the threat of irrelevancy is credible in their assessment.

Relevancy is only part of the solution

So, as a “Fifth Pillar” of Amateur Radio, the ARRL has added technology – specifically “radio” technology.  How does making such an assertion address the problem of irrelevancy?  Some of the comments posted to http://eham.net are very perceptive.  What can the ARRL  do other than assert that a focus on technology will address the issue of irrelevancy?  Hasn’t Amateur Radio, from the very beginning, been about radio technology at its central core? So what’s new?

Relevancy alone isn’t  the real issue.  It’s also about the numbers.  A tiny handful of individuals that consider something as relevant is not going to out weigh the majority of individuals that consider that same thing as irrelevant when it comes to sustaining an organization like the ARRL, the amateur radio equipment manufacturers R&D budgets, or anybody else in the line of fire delivering products or services related to the amateur radio community as a diminishing market.

The numbers game

If Amateur Radio is is perceived as irrelevant then it will have difficulty attracting new people into the Amateur Radio Service and retaining existing Amateurs through FCC license renewals.

Of course the ARRL, as an organization with a mission to amateur radio,  has to pay attention to the numbers.  The number of licensed operators , the percent of this number that are ARRL members, the conversion rate, the percent  retention rate of ARRL members through renewals, and other metrics are all important predictors for the ARRL’s future.  And of course, the bottom line is the revenue generated by these members through which the ARRL can carry out its organizational mission, pay its staff, and fund its future liabilities.

It really comes down to an issue of the ability of an organization to grow.  Or,  worst case, for an organization to survive.  In the context of perceptions of  irrelevancy, lack of innovation, and that Amateur Radio as a legacy of the past may be on a trajectory to obsolescence, the ARRL and amateur radio has less than an optimistic future.

A compelling demonstration of relevancy & numbers

So there are a number of things bound up together.  If Amateur Radio had a compelling demonstration of relevancy, innovation, and positions itself in the  of state-of-the-art of anything significant then there would be more Amateurs, more ARRL members, and more revenue to the ARRL to fulfill its mission and grow.  If all this could be accomplished then all would be right with the world and no more “pillars” would need to be added to Amateur Radio by ARRL Presidents.

The analogy of adding a pillar may suggest an unintended image.  To add a pillar to an existing structure implies something about that structure and begs the question as to why another pillar is necessary.  One may get the image of adding additional structural reinforcement to a crumbling edifice.  If everything was OK then no supplemental reinforcement would be necessary.  So why has another “pillar” been added by the ARRL to Amateur Radio?

I doubt very much that renewing a focus (“fifth pillar”) on “radio” technology will address the underlying perception by the ARRL that Amateur Radio is irrelevant to the general public – or that segment of the general population from which Amateur Radio would draw new membership.

The other 4 Pillars of Amateur Radio

What are  the other “pillars” of Amateur Radio as set out by the ARRL?

ARRL’s other four pillars, the underpinnings of the organization, are Public Service, Advocacy, Education and Membership. “For hams, expanding the four pillars to include technology will reinforce one of the organization’s guiding principles — that ham radio is state-of-the-art, innovative and relevant,

Public Service.  Is that in ascendancy?  No, not really.
Advocacy, Education, and membership?  Even a slick marketing plan and huge unsustainable ad budget and campaign – unless they have a compelling image and message against perceived irrelevancy – will have little affect.

The fifth pillar with a strong emphasis on radio technology may have the opposite affect.  That is, drive people away as the underlying electronics, software, and mathematical models of modern “radio” technology is inaccessible to the majority of people – including licensed amateurs.

It is not the early 1900’s when it was typical for Amateurs to build their own equipment while comprehending  the underlying  radio designs and electronics technology that realizes these designs.  Nor is it  even the era of the 1960’s when Amateurs built kits from Heath.  What characterizes the majority of modern Amateurs in 2009  is “appliance operating”.

In a response on http://eham.net to the ARRL announcement of the Fifth Pillar, Charles Cook, K6CRC,  articulated a similar sentiment…

I found this story very confusing. What does the ARRL mean?

1. We all have to buy a $50,000 spectrum analyzer, and pass a Smith Chart test in our sleep? The hobby is limited enough now. Turning it into a hobby of microwave engineers and DSP programmers, and what will it be? Maybe 10,000 hams?

2. Try new things and grow your technical knowledge? Sounds good. To that end, please review all of your educational materials to see if they are written to support that goal. Some of the stuff is awful, some of it helpful. Hams will be looking to ARRL for guidance.

Just be clear on what you are trying to do. As a marketing professional, I am not sure what to make of these statements. A confused customer doesn’t usually buy much.

Relevancy – by the numbers

Amateur Radio

How many individuals are licensed?

According to http://hamdata.com, as of May 2009, there are 792, 565 licensed amateur radio operators.

Social Networking

We can look at some web analytics to see what is in ascendancy.

How many individuals?

In June 2007 the top social networking site had 72.5 million visitors.  There are 91 times more users to this single site in a single month than there are licensed amateurs world-wide.

This 91x factor does not count the users of other social networking sites. How many individuals are attracted to social networking?  Hard to tell.  But at a minimum, at one site alone, 72.5 million individuals sampled over one month.

What sort of Commitment?

For the top social networking site in August 2007

69 million visitors…
… making 1.2 billion visits to the site…
… requesting 67 billion page views.

Who are they?

Mostly 18-34 year olds
Mostly male
With a college or graduate school education

The Fifth Pillar of Amateur Radio – Hiding in plain sight

If the ARRL wants to increase the number of licensed operators by attracting new members then why not associate Amateur Radio with aspects of the culture that are clearly, and unmistakably, in ascendancy rather than in decline?

“You can see a lot just by observing” – Yogi Berra

What sustains Amateur Radio on a daily basis?  Perhaps all you need is to remember a few things from the past and look at the current situation and environment.

HF nets

I sometimes listen to the 75 meter amateur radio band.  On one particular night I heard the beginning of one net.  Typically these nets use a fixed script to introduce the net.  The introduction to the net usually articulates the purpose of the net and how the net will operate.  For this particular net the introductory script also included how long the net has been in operation – since 1964.

So, in 2009, this particualar 75 meter net has been meeting for the past 45 years.  Long-lived nets on HF are probably the rule rather than the exception.  HF nets are operating morning, noon, and night.  One net was so popular – the Breakfast Club on 75 meters, that a group started the “Before Breakfast Club” net.  These nets are simple round tables of general social conversation.

The Night Patrol

This blog is being written near Chicago Illinois.  I can hear amateur radio repeaters within about a 100 mile radius from my location.  A local club is the Argonne Amateur Radio Club associated with Argonne National Laboratory.

For at least the past 20+ years, every night at 10:30pm central time you can tune into 145.190 MHz and listen to the Night Patrol.  This is a round table net  that has sustained this club and its members for at least the past two decades.  It is a net of general social conversation.

The Lunch Bunch

Another club near Chicago, the Dupage Amateur Radio Club, has a net on 2 meters called “The Lunch Bunch”.  It meets every weekday at noon and regularly gets 35+ check-ins.  There is generally a “question” or “topic” proposed by the net control for those checking in to the net to discuss.

Sometimes this topic has nothing to do with Amateur Radio.  The Lunch Bunch on the Dupage repeater is a net of general social conversation.

… and the common element

These are just a few examples of activities which are repeated many times over in every geographic location, daily – morning, noon, and night.

So what observable activity sustains amateur radio every hour of every day of every year for 100+ years since the beginning of amateur radio?  Is it public service?  Is it emergency preparedness?  Is it radio technology.  No

What do all the examples above have in common?  These are social nets bound by casual conversation.  Beware a potential brush with a huge cultural and social phenomenon in 2009.

The “Get”

If the ARRL wants Amateur Radio to shed this tag of “irrelevancy” then one strategy is to hitch its wagon to aspects of the culture that are in ascendancy and not in decline.  What is in ascendancy?  It’s in plain sight – and it’s not “radio” technology.

As distasteful as it might sound to the ears of traditional Amateurs, linking Amateur Radio to the social aspect of human interaction in the form of casual conversation is just what might save Amateur Radio from irrelevancy.  In 2009, social networking is as far away from irrelevancy as one could possibly imagine.  It is also as far away from “radio” technology as one could imagine.

In 2009 there will be no need of any executive from Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, mySpace, or any other social networking site to make a public assertion that the activity to which their site and organization is dedicated to is  “state-of-the-art, innovative, and relevant”.

The analytics that show that a single top site has 70 million people making  1.2 billion visits viewing 67 billion pages in a single month makes a compelling case of both relevancy and numbers.  Consider also the age demographics – mostly 16-34 year olds.  If the ARRL is looking for the next generation – here it is.

“A Hobby of Casual Conversation”

In the public news media several years ago I heard Amateur Radio described as “A hobby of casual conversation”.

Swapping some aspect of social networking for “radio technology” may be just the ” fifth pillar” that the ARRL needs to pull Amateur Radio out of perceived irrelevancy.  At least, the metrics related to social networking make a clear and compelling case that here are tens of millions of individuals within the 16-34 age group that are primed for the next organization that can offer something that can fit this model and facilitate such an interaction.

Amateur Radio has demonstrated just this social networking aspect  in its long-lived HF nets and conversations that happen every day on HF and VHF.  It’s about “passing messages” – correct?  In the past, Amateurs where focused on the infrastructure.  That is, the nuts and bolts of the electronics technology needed for communication.  But have they ever thought about the messages being passed over that infrastructure?

In a certain sense, in traditional Amateur Radio, the infrastructure (RF technology) was the center of the world.  The message passing over that infrastructure was less important than the technology that made that message passing possible..

Perhaps the new strategy is to make the message more important than the infrastructure that carries the message.  This turns traditional Amateur Radio upside down.

In 2009 “radio” technology is invisible.  It is invisible because it is so successful and ubiquitous.  Every teenager running around with an Apple iPhone  or a common cell phone has a “radio”.  But that “radio” as underlying technology  is “irrelevant”.  That teenager is more interested in what rides on top of that technology – texting, voice, images, e-mail, calendars, and social networking apps like Twitter and others.

What about the ability to talk across the globe?  What has been fascinating for Amateurs to accomplish historically is now no big deal – a teenager with a cell phone can do this effortlessly.  Again, global “radio” communication is so successful and ubiquitous it is invisible and “irrelevant”.  We’ve moved on to new things.

For this teenager within the next generation of potential Amateur Radio operators, the ARRL pushing a renewed focus on “radio” technology may just be accelerating irrelevancy of Amateur Radio.  In 2009, the general population is more interested what rides on the RF infrastructure (the message)  than the RF technology itself ( the infrastructure).

The challenge would be to find a way that Amateur Radio can link into (“hitch a ride on”) this cultural phenomenon of social networking  and not lose its identity.  Associating Amateur Radio more closely with radio technology may chip away at the irrelevancy issue for a very small segment of engineers  but it will never match an affect on the general public achieved by linking Amateur Radio with the compelling cultural phenomenon that is social networking.

Resources

Metrics on licensed Amateurs by state – http://hamdata.com/states.html

Analytics -
http://alexa.com/topsites
http://blog.compete.com/2007/07/24/top-social-networks-june-myspace-facebook/

The Fifth Pillar of Amateur Radio – http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/08/0516/

Amateur Responses to the “Fifth Pillar” - http://www.eham.net/articles/19330

Web Analytics on http://arrl.org - http://alexa.com/siteinfo/arrl.org

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Given these demographics, how many more years does Amateur Radio and the ARRL have to re/invent itself to relevancy to the next generation?

3 a.m. Aveam de gând să fac din asta un fel de movie-night, dar fix după ce am dat “x” la Persepolis m-a sunat o prietenă să ieşim în D’Arc. N-am refuzat, şi nu, nici nu mi-a părut rău. S-a schimbat D’Arcu’, nu mai e aşa cum îl ştiam din primii ani de studenţie, dar şi eu m-am schimbat ce-i drept, cu tot cu standardele mele. Şi totuşi… când am ajuns acolo jumate din populaţie era formată din ţărani (da, dinăia de îi vedeam când mergeam în discotecă la bună-mea la sat, acu’ 10-12 ani), iar o treime din total aveau bluză sau tricou cu dungi orizontale (late, subţiri, mai colorate, mono)… I don’t get it, cineva să mă lumineze care-i moda cu dungile astea? Adică… înţeleg, ţi-ai pus la spălat toate hainele, şi a rămas numa’ bluza aia cu dungi de acum nush câţi ani, dar… care-s şansele, mă? Să mergi undeva şi să fie încă nu stiu câţi ca tine. Eu de exemplu n-am bluza cu dungi orizontale, m-am uitat cum am ajuns acasă, că deja mă obseda modelul. Şi… o fost un moş. Prietena mea zice că era poliţai andărcavăr, dar oricum, era dubios. Pe la 50-55 de ani. Sunt eu mai sensibilă la moşi că am mai avut peripeţii cu ceva pedofili (eu am mutra de copil uneori), dar na, nici chiar aşa. Şi ăsta avea bluză cu dungi. După două beri, nush, sau s-a schimbat muzica, sau oamenii (or venit din Setup şi s-or dus ţăranii minori la ei în sat), sau lumina o devenit mai obscură, sau nu mi-o mai păsat, da’ totul o fost mai fain. Am stat vreo 3 ore şi a fost ok. Am dansat până n-am mai suportat fumul, şi dusă am fost. Am ajuns acasă şi la recomandarea lui Richie, l-am luat! Pe film, adică. N-am vazut aşa viteza la torrente de când am fibra optică, că nici n-am apucat să mă demachiez şi să fac un duş că s-a şi dat jos filmul. Credeam că o să apuc să dorm puţin până îl ia.

***

Film. Waltz With Bashir la 4 dimineaţa. Despre război. Amintiri aruncate undeva în subconştient, disociere, refulare. Animaţie destul de realistă, uneori colorată special (câinii de la început, scena cu oamenii morţi şi răniţi noaptea, cea cu soldaţii ieşind din apă şi sfârşitul), alteori umbrele ireal de întunecate (hmm.. cum sună asta?). Ideea de moarte şi iminenţa ei m-a urmărit pe tot parcursul filmului şi totuşi am fost surprinsă când mai vedeam pe câte unul împuşcat din senin, fără nici o logică (and then again, war doesn’t make any sense), şi… starea aceea apăsătoare de neputinţă amestecată cu un fel de silă. Explozii pe ceva muzică de vals în livadă. Nu, nu poate fi vorba de fluturi în stomac. Şi cândva pe fundal This is Not a Love Song… no shit?!  Freaky people.. Nu recomand să-l vedeţi într-o stare avansată de nesomn+/-ebrietate, decât dacă aveţi tendinţe masochistice (eu am…). Şi filmul chiar nu e horror, e doar psihologic.

I bombed Beirut today, I bombed Beirut everyday, If I came close to death I couldn’t say, I bombed Beirut everyday…

wiki

IMDB

***

5-6 a.m. Cred că am o afinitate pentru filmele cu/despre război, deşi sunt mai pacifistă de felul meu. Beyond Borders, Hotel Rwanda, Lord of War şi Three Kings – preferatele mele, până acum, mai ales primul (sunt puţin sensibilă la subiect, şi de atunci am devenit “fană” MSF, şi vreau să merg în Africa să văd pe pielea mea). Animaţia îmi place de când eram copil, pentru că poate reda (?) imagini şi crea situaţii imposibil de realizat în condiţii normale. Japonezii sunt preferaţii mei la acest capitol (anime-urile), dar despre asta altă dată. Mă duc să dorm..

A gene which apparently evolved to protect people from malaria increases their vulnerability to HIV infection by 40%, say US and UK scientists.

People of African descent have a variation of the “DARC” gene which may interfere with their ability to fight HIV in its early stages. The Cell Host and Microbe study says the gene accounts for millions of extra HIV cases in sub-Saharan Africa. People with the gene appear to live longer with HIV than others.

While the differences in HIV prevalence in different parts of the world can be partly explained by different social conditions and sexual behaviour, scientists have long suspected that there may be genetic reasons why the virus is rife in certain communities.

Read more of this BBC report >>

Schon recht lange beschäftige ich mich mit dem Thema Amateurfunk.Mal merh und auch mal weniger. So bin auch ich aus dem damaligen CB-Funk Bereich zum Amateurfunk gekommen. Aber das ist jetzt knapp 30 Jahre her! Am 5.12.1979 war es soweit. Ich habe meine Amateurfunkprüfung für die frühere Lizensklasse C bei der damaligen Landespostdirektion in Berlin abgelegt. Sofort nach dem Verlassen der Prüfungsstelle wurde ein IC-202 von ICOM für 2 Meter SSB gekauft. Eine Antenne, einen DL7KM-Beam hatte ich bereits auf dem Dach meiner Eltern montiert. Es konnte also losgehen! In den folgenden Jahren war ich im gesamten UKW-Bereich recht aktiv bis hin zu 10GHz, wo ich sozusagen als einer der ersten Pioniere meine QSOs führte. Ich war in etlichen Betriebsarten wie RTTY, SSTV und Packet Radio QRV. Auch aktive Zeiten bei DARC habe ich hinter mir. War Stellv.DV und auch DV. Das letzte Amt habe ich dann aber aufgrund von meiner Meihung nach Desinteresse an Aktivitäten von vielen Funkamateuren in Berlin niedergelegt. Auch war es extrem schwer gegen bestimmte Statuten im DARC anzukämpfen. Die alte Linie war nicht zu durchbrechen. Auch heute noch passiert hier in Berlin so gut wie nichts. Man muss sich nur einmal die Distrikt-Seite in der CQ-DL ansehen und verfolgen. So gut wie nichts, wobei andere Distrikte voll mit Aktivitäten sind. Es wird Zeit das die “alten” Herren einmal wirkliches Marketing zulassen und lernen das alte und graue Männer die schon lange dem regulären Arbeitsalter entwachsen sind, nun nicht unbedingt die sind, die Kinder und jugendliche vom Amateurfunk begeistern können. Wobei ist dabei aber auch nicht alle über einen Kamm schären möchte! Aber es ist halt einfacher alles schön zu reden. Aber Taten folgen nicht! Ich könnte hier noch viel schreiben, sehr viel. Lasse es aber. Ich rege mich sonst wieder zu sehr auf. Ich bin sowieso bei vielen der Böse, weil ich “zu” aktiv als DV war. Aber es kann nur besser werden!

I have been interested in ham radio for quite some time. I started with the citizens band and later turned towards amateur radio. I acquired my class “C” licence from the post and telecommunications office on December 5, 1979. I bought an Icom IC-202 SSB trx immediately after leaving the office. I had already erected a DL7KM type beam on the roof of my parent’s house, so I could start right away. For years to come I have been active all over the VHF / UHF spectrum up to 10 GHz, where I had some QSOs as one of the pioneers. I have been active in all modes, tropospheric dx, satellite, radio teletype, slow scan television, amateur television as well as packet radio. Starting about ten years ago I have become active on the internet and I lost interest in ham radio completely. Only recently some ham operators from the Chaos Computer Club have brought me back on track again. So I am starting all over, I am QRV again! Since 2003 August 15 I have been allowed to transmit on shortwave as well.

Daniel Darc

France, Paris, le 5 juin 2008. Concert au Grand Rex. L’ancien leader des Taxi Girl, Dianel Darc assure la 1ere parti du concert de Pete Doherty (auquel ce dernier n a pu participe pour cause de retard de TGV).
France, Paris, June 5th 2008. Grand Rex. The ex Taxi Girl (emblematic 80s group) singer Daniel Darc on stage .

     Loin des polémiques constatées ici et là, il faut avant tout constater que les fêtes Jeanne d’Arc ont pris un sacré coup de jeune cette année : nouvelle identité visuelle traitée sous forme de BD, un site web décliné sur cette charte graphique (et réalisé par les webmasters de la Ville d’Orléans), et un petit programme au format poche très pratique.

Ajoutez à cela quelques changements évènementiels comme un son et lumière de grande qualité pour l’embrasement des tours, signé 4horizons,  (voir photo de coteboulevard.com) et un concert exceptionnel de Martin Solveig (entre autres) sur la place de la Loire et la semaine de festivités prend un nouvel envol. Les esprits chagrins pourront toujours critiquer par plaisir ou par habitude (voir l’article de Fabien Pretre), ils sont assez rares à proposer des actions ou animations capables de rassembler plusieurs milliers de personnes le soir du 7 mai !

Schon in meiner Kindheit habe ich mich für die elektrische Technik interessiert. Mit 12 oder 13 Jahren baute ich aus 2 oder 3 defekten Radios, die ich auf dem Sperrmüll fand, einen funktionstüchtigen Empfänger zusammen. So ist es auch kein Wunder, dass die Radio- und Fernsehtechnik meine Profession wurde.
Mitte der 70er Jahre war der CB-Funk (Citizen-Band) groß in Mode. Ein mobiler Sprechfunk im 27 MHz Bereich mit kleiner, minimaler Leistung, das normalerweise einen Kontakt über ein paar Kilometer zu ließ. Als Technikfreak war ich natürlich interessiert, mehr Leistung aus dem mobilen Gerät herauszuholen, um die Reichweite zu erhöhen. Mit ein paar Manipulationen, einer stationären Antenne und einen Sonnenflecken-Maximum konnte ich Reichweiten und Kontakte nach Südamerika, Afrika und Südeuropa erreichen.
Diese Manipulationen am Gerät waren ungesetzlich und da ich nicht im rechtlosen Raum leben wollte, schloss ich mich einer Funkamateurgruppe an, machte die erforderliche Amateurfunkprüfung (mit CW – auch Klopfzeichen oder Morsen genannt) und wurde Mitglied im DARC (Deutscher-Amateur-Radio-Club). Jetzt war es möglich mit den Geräten des Amateurfunks weltweite Verbindungen legal herzustellen. Zustande gekommene Kontakte bestätigte man sich mit einer QSL-Karte, auf der das Datum der Verbindung, die Uhrzeit, die Frequenz, die Modulationsart und die Empfangsbedingungen festgehalten wurden.
Mein Funkamateurclub beschäftigte sich auch mit der gerade neu aufkommenden Technik des Personal- Computers. Mein erster Computer war ein NASCOM 1, ein Einplatinen- Computer mit Tastatur und der Anschlussmöglichkeit eines Video-Monitors.

Sehr interessant ist auch die technische Spezifikationen, im Verhältnis zu den heutigen Computern und das ist gerade mal 30 Jahre her. Informationen unter http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=814.

My current musical obsession: Underworld’s unreleased track “Darc”, played once at a live show at Amsterdam in 2005. Vocals, guitar solo, rhythm — the whole thing is fantastic.

Click here to listen — be sure to stick with it until the guitar solo that starts at 4:00.