Personal

Now I remember why I rarely go to the movies.

POTC (the first part) was a rather amusing film. But POTC2 was a lame sequel (like they usually are), and POTC3 was trash (like they usually are, see Terminator III). POTC3 takes long and is boring. It is impossible to follow the complex story line. Some scenes have awesome effects, like the world going upside down at sunset. But then there are only weird scenes, like the slapstick marriage during a saber battle. Not recommended, not even as a popcorn movie.

Five murder mystery TV shows with blondes in the lead and starting with “C”: C.S.I., Criminal Intent, The Closer, Close To Home, Cold Case.

No wonder I’m confused. And I always thought that TV is only for people with an IQ < 3.

Ibanez, my favorite guitar manufacturer, has created a model with an unusual guitar body shape which is commonly favored by heavy metal guitarists. Having Gibson’s innovative “Flying V” and “Explorer” body shapes from 1958(!) in mind, guitar companies started to release models with similar designs in the late seventies because heavy metal guitarists found that those radical body shapes match their music style and appearance on stage. Ibanez, being favored by virtuosic guitarists such as Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, has lacked guitars of such an uncommon style so far and has finally come up with a V-shaped and an X-shaped guitar model. (I once heard that such untraditional shapes tend to bad resonance behavior, but I think that’s nonsense.) The white V-shaped one would even appeal me, as it’s not so typically “heavy metal” as the black one.

The video promoting the X-model on their website features statements of a guitar body designer and a virtuosic heavy metal guitarist from Germany. The video is underlayed with musical sequences from the guitarist’s band; extremely fast, technical and virtuosic metal music which is considered to be “neo-classical” because it tries to imitate the complex structures of traditional classical music. Unfortunately, when I saw their website and their entry on Wikipedia, they turned out to be a “technical brutal death metal” band, having “death growls” as singing voice and songs about “mutilating stillborn children” and similar. I already asked myself why they chose a name associating them with necrophilia.

Now, does this have to be? Does Ibanez really want to identify themselves with disgustingly gory necrophilic musicians who make guttural sounds while they imagine to slash rotten corpses? This is ridiculous! What do these abject topics have to do with virtuosity on the guitar? What does that have to do with classical music? I’m really agitated. Why can’t virtuosity keep being linked to virtuosic music, and be it of heavy metal style?

However, on the one hand there are awesome metal guitarists using traditional guitar body shapes, and on the other there are “ordinary” rockers such as Lenny Kravitz who use a Gibson Flying V. And companies like Dean Guitars devote themselves to radical body shapes that are appreciated by comparatively “harmless” metal giants such as Dave Mustaine or the late Dimebag Darrel. I therefore consider Ibanez’ choice of that one guitarist for their promo as an accident.

And by the way, if that guy is so keen on appearing evil on stage, why has he got that boring short hair cut?

Der Basketballspieler befindet sich in Riesenhaft.
Der Däumling befindet sich in Zwergenhaft.
Der Diktator befindet sich in Boshaft.
Der Untalentierte befindet sich in Tölpelhaft.
Der Maler befindet sich in Meisterhaft.
Der Neurotiker befindet sich in Zwanghaft.

So, jetzt ist’s aber gut. Wenn mir irgendwann nochwas einfällt, kommt’s einfach hier drunter dazu.

Irgendwie kommt mir das wie ein sich selbst erhaltendes System vor: Jemand (er-)findet ein Fachgebiet und unterrichtet Schüler darin. Diejenigen, die das interessiert und gut darin sind, beschäftigen sich intensiver mit der Materie und studieren es vielleicht sogar, und werden dann Lehrer, um das Fachgebiet der nachfolgenden Schülergeneration beizubringen, aus der dann die nächsten Lehrer hervorgehen, die das Fach ihrerseits wieder weitergeben. Wozu gibt es dann das Fachgebiet? Aus Spaß an der Freud’? Weil’s grad interessant ist? Wozu Mathematik? Wozu Physik? Wozu Chemie, Biologie? Da muss doch mehr dahinter stecken?

Ja, die Leute, die in dem Fachgebiet aktiv arbeiten, sei es in Forschung oder Anwendung, die rechtfertigen das Fach. Wer also Interesse an einem Gebiet zeigt, es intensiv studiert und dann lediglich Lehrer wird, hat eigentlich versagt. Sicher, “irgendwer muss’s ja machen”, nämlich diejenigen, die nur mittelmäßiges Interesse daran haben, das sie dann allerdings im Laufe der Unterrichtsjahre aus Frust sowieso wieder verlieren.

Das ist nämlich der Grund warum die Schulmathematik garnichts mit der eigentlichen Mathematik zu tun hat. Kein Mathematiker hat eine Formelsammlung. Kein Mathematiker macht Rechenbeispiele. Mathematiker rechnen nicht. Lehrer rechnen. Ja, liebe Schüler, dass das Volumen eines Kreiskegels als V=r²πh/3 zu berechnen ist, braucht tatsächlich keine Sau!