Tomislav introduced me to another interesting tidbit.
The coffee machine on carriage.
As you can see from the pictures, it’s no joke.
When I opened the link to Callum’s video that Tomislav sent me, I was incredulous, with a cartoonish expression on my face.
The immediate question is: who on earth thought of putting a coffee machine in a Cinderella-style carriage?
Who can give me an answer?
We’re in Tiraspol, Transnistria: a territory located east of the Dniester River, belonging de jure to the Republic of Moldova but de facto an independent state, with its administrative seat in Tiraspol, not recognized by the international community following the unilateral declaration of independence in August 1991.
Still water commonly refers to natural water, but literally means water that is not moving.
We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet. William Butler Yeats
Stillwater is also the name of a town in the United States that inspired the title of a 2021 film starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin.
Stillwater
Have you seen it?
As the trailer clearly shows, it is the story of a father who arrives in France from Stillwater to help his daughter who is in prison.
When the film was released, Amanda Knox sparked a heated controversy by writing: Does my name belong to me? My face? What about my life? My story? Why does my name refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions because others continue toprofit off my name, face, & story without my consent. Most recently, the film #STILLWATER
Right? Of course.
I saw the film and honestly didn’t notice any correlations or references, apart from the fact that an American girl was in prison.
Furthermore, the film’s plot reveals an unexpected twist, and frankly, the fact that Amanda Knox strongly insists that this is her story surprises me, because it leads to a very specific consideration.
You know I never reveal details that could be spoilers, but if you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your opinion.
Regardless, it happened again.
The Rip, the new film starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, was recently released, and they are promoting it.
During an interview for his podcast, Joe Rogan asked the two actors for their opinion on cancel culture.
Definition of cancel culture: an attitude of blame, usually expressed through social media, towards public figures or companies who have said or done something offensive or politically incorrect and who are therefore stripped of support and approval.
In short: media pillorying to achieve oblivion.
We know it well, would you like to give some examples?
Matt Damon responds by expressing his opinion: I bet some of those people would have preferred to go to jail for 18 months or whatever, and then come out and say, ‘I paidmy debt. Like, we’re done. Like, can we be done?’” The thing about that getting kind of excoriated, publicly like that, it just never ends. And it will just follow you to the grave.”
First of all, it’s an opinion.
And it refers to prison as the place where one pays their debt. It’s also a strong concept, undoubtedly, precisely to reinforce the comparison with the consequences of cancel culture.
But Amanda Knox once again felt compelled to attack Matt Damon, this time writing: Another thing Matt Damon could have run by me about before putting out inyo the world.
Well… so Matt Damon should consult her before doing anything?
Or is it just another case of “all publicity is good publicity”?
On January 26, a documentary entitled Mouth of the Wolf: Amanda Knox Returns to Italy, edited by Amanda Knox, will be released. It was filmed during her return to Italy, in Umbria, where she met again with Giuliano Mignini, who coordinated the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher.
“It keeps me awake at night. The cruelty, the ignorance, the lies, the rewriting of history. I think an understanding and love of art and music make it impossible to be the kind of person who wants to go out and be cruel to others.”
I would say that’s something to think about.
Are we living in an age of emptiness? Of a lack of understanding and love for art in all its forms?
I don’t know, but it’s clear that we are more inclined towards destruction than creation.
“There’s so much suffering in the world, why would we want to add to it?”
That’s a great question.
Why?
Why not say enough is enough?
“We’ve lost the ability to discuss things and respect other people’s point of view, we have a horrendous polarisation.”
Polarization, and I would add chronic forms of individualism and selfishness.
“If people spent more time looking at the stars and making music, none of this would be possible.”
Beavers live where there is enough water to dive, they build the entrance to their burrows underwater for greater safety, then if the water level is not sufficient, they build a dam.
We learnt the ‘beaver – dam’ association of thought from an early age, do you remember any cartoons in particular?
I mention cartoons because the beavers I want to talk about are definitely characters.
The beavers I want to talk about live in Brdy in the Czech Republic.
The name of this area: Brdy comes from brdo meaning hill, precisely because it is a hilly/mountainous and wooded area.
The presence of a military zone in this area meant that the area was not affected by any urbanisation, thus preserving the naturalistic aspect: flora and fauna.
Having become an environmentally protected landscape for Brdy, it had become necessary to repair a drainage canal built by the army and restore the wetlands.
Huge and extremely expensive works, the plans for which had run aground under the weight of bureaucracy and waiting for appropriations.
But the beavers magically solved the issue by building a dam!
Zero cost and a great lesson to be learned.
Nature teaches us about life in harmonious balance.
‘Beavers always know what is best. The places where they build dams are always chosen in the right way, better than when we design them on paper,’ these words are from Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemia office of the Czech Agency for the Protection of Nature and Landscape (AOPK).
What can I say?
I would use the words of Jules Verne: Nature’s creative power is far beyond man’s instinct of destruction.
Again, cold milk and coffee are needed, the milk must be very cold while the coffee must be very hot because it is precisely the contrast between the temperatures that creates the dirty effect.
And in this case too, the inspiration comes from the East.
Dirty Coffee inventor Katsuyuki Tanaka of Bear Pond Espresso ベアポンドエクスプレス in Tokyo.
Iced milk: must be prepared by filling a transparent glass with whole milk. The temperature of the milk must be very low to create this thermal contrast with the espresso.
Coffee: prepare a ristretto espresso.
Pour carefully: pour the coffee over the cold milk little by little and gently. The espresso will sit on top of the milk, slowly descending to create an attractive layered effect.
Don’t stir: for a perfect Dirty Coffee just refrain from stirring the drink.
Are you of the type: I discover a new preparation and immediately feel inspired to try it?
Hanoi Train Street is something I discovered thanks to the TV showBeijing Express.
Unfortunately, I only ‘travel’ through others, thanks to the stories and images shared in several ways.
For this reason: images, I like Beijing Express.
Since it is broadcast on pay TV I have to wait for the free version, so only a week ago I happened to see Fru sitting at a table in a bar in Hanoi Vietnam for a coffee.
What could possibly be strange about that? It is true that I here celebrate the coffees of all those who give me the privilege of sharing, but why am I talking about a coffee seen on TV?
This indeed wasn’t a coffee of the ones I like to call ‘calm.’
Train Street … the name leaves no mystery, but did you know that train tracks literally pass along a street in Hanoi just a short distance from buildings?
It was a discovery for me and so I couldn’t help but try to find out more.
The railway in Hanoi was built by the French in the early 1900s and buildings sprang up later in time.
In the second decade of the 2000s the narrow space between the tracks and the houses, also considering that the speed of the trains doesn’t particularly decrease as they pass through, became a tourist attraction growing to the point of being extremely dangerous.
The mania or perhaps we should say the urge to take pictures feverishly seizes many people and the Instagram wild created a risky as well as uncontrolled crowd.
This is why the authorities in 2022 closed access to tourists.
But you know: business is business.
Once upon a time, they used to say: ‘once the law is made, there’s always a loophole’ … so the buildings have been transformed into cafes that can safely accommodate visitors, with timetables and rules to follow.
So after telling you about The Happiness Trains we are now chatting about the Trains how? You tell me.
Hi I'm Claudia and this is KCDC.
OPINIONI