Draußen stehen und zugleich drinnen,
ergreifen und umgriffen werden,
schauen und das Geschaute selbst sein,
halten und gehalten werden:
das ist das Ziel.
Dort verharrt der Geist in Ruhe
Und ist eins mit der Ewigkeit.

(Meister Eckhart)


Snippets:
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King Arthur (2004). 126 min. w/ Clive Owen (Arthur), Ioan Gruffudd (Lancelot), Keira Knightley (Guinevere). Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Fictious story showing Arthur as a Roman centurio, before becoming king and how he met Guinevere, and fought the pagan Saxons. Plenty of factual and historical inaccuracies and inconsistencies despite claims about the 'historical Arthur' made at the beginning of the film. Mediocre acting, although Gruffudd is remarkable. Interesting new approach, but failed to deliver. Overall rating: 3 out of 10.
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Literature: The Mabinogion (pronounced 'Mabin-OGion')is an assembly of Welsh Storys that were taken from two ancient books called the 'Red Book of Hergest' and the earlier 'The White Book of Rhydderch'. They tell the storys of people in celtic times around 500 BC. Mabinogion means 'tales of youth'. Also available as TXT at Project Gutenberg. Further info on The Mabinogion.
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Music: Nellie McKay (pronounced 'mi-KAI', b. 1984). Signed with Columbia Records. Vocals and piano. Inriguing lyrics. First album: Get away from me (2004). New album 'Pretty Little Head' featuring duets with Cyndi Lauper and k.d. lang will be released January 3, 2006.
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Music: Amplifico. From Edinburgh, Scottland. Donna Maciocia (vocals, piano, guitar), Brett Allan (bass), Ross Kilgour (guitar) and Dave Brunton (drums). Reminds of a mixture of Portishead, Rainbirds, Nelly Furtado, and Cranberries. Unsigned band, distibutes recordings over the Internet. Current albums: Hometakes Volume 1, Hometakes Volume 2. Also some demo material on the web site. Some great songs, e.g. All Your Sins.
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Music: Hurdy gurdy: a stringed musical instrument; strings are arranged such that they can all be vibrated by a rotating wheel.
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News: Watching America: reflects global opinion about the United States, helping Americans and non-Americans alike understand what the world thinks of current issues that involve the U.S. This is done by providing news and views about the United States published in other countries.
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