Poetry is when you make new things familiar and familiar things new.

Ever since in the UK they banned smoking in public places I’ve never enjoyed drinks party ever again. And the reason I’ve only work out just the other day… which is, when you go to drinks party you stand up and hold a glass of a red wine and you talk endlessly to people, but you don’t want to spend all the time talking, it’s really, really tiring… sometimes you just want to stand silently, alone with your thoughts, sometimes you just want to stand in the corner and stare out of the window… but the problem is, when you can’t smoke if you stand and stare out of the window on your own, you are antisocial, friendless idiot, if you stand and stare out of the window on your own with a cigarette, you are fuckin’ philosopher… so, the power of reframing things cannot be overstated. What we have is the exactly same thing, the same activity, but the one makes you feel great, and the other, with just a small change of posture, makes you feel terrible.

Rory Sutherland: Perspective is everything, TED lecture

Mnogi koje poznajem očarani su japanskom kulturom, no ja, moram priznati, ne razumijem što bi mi se trebalo svidjeti u iscrpljujućem radu, okrutnoj disciplini ili stresu i krivnji ako nisi dovoljno dao za svoje poduzeće ili svoju zemlju. Radosno pristajanje na represiju, dobrovoljno potiskivanje osobnih žudnji uime mravljeg kolektiviteta duboko mi je uznemirujuće i strano, a da se netko ubio zbog svog šefa, držim upravo idiotskim.

Moj stav o japanskoj odanosti sistemu perfektno je sažet u jednom blesavom starom vicu, možda ga znate, kad Mujo i Japanac nabrajaju tri najvažnije stvari u svojim životima. “Meni je na prvom mjestu moja domovina Japan”, počne Japanac odrješito. “Na drugom mjestu je moje poduzeće i naposljetku, na trećem, mi je obitelj.” Zatim krene Mujo, ni približno ovako samouvjereno. “Meni je… meni je… Meni sam na prvom mjestu ja”, sjeti se Mujo napokon. “Onda je, ajde, moja obitelj, a Japan mi je, pravo da ti kažem, prijatelju, tek na trećem mjestu.”

Nepatriotski rezon

Hedonistički subverzivan i nepatriotski rezon glupog Muje ja nalazim mnogo bližim od nesebičnog žrtvovanja za cara ili poslodavca, ali opet, kad sam prije nekoliko dana u novinama pročitao kako se Hideo Yamazaki, japanski ambasador u Sarajevu, nesvakidašnje oštro za diplomatske običaje i ni nalik uglađenoj rezerviranosti kakvu njeguju u njegovoj dalekoistočnoj domovini, okomio na bosanskohercegovačke političke elite, otvoreno ih nazvao “korumpiranom i bezobzirnom kastama koje vode računa samo o vlastitim interesima, oglušujući se o potrebe siromašnih”, moje srce je bez ostatka bilo na strani ovoga raspižđenog gospodina. Dapače, nešto me i dirnuo njegov gnjev.

Stavio sam se načas u njegovu kožu i pokušao zamisliti kakav je pakao biti japanski ambasador u jednom kršu od države kakva je Bosna i Hercegovina. Kako strašno mora patiti taj ubogi čovjek, kojemu je tradicijom i odgojem usađen nemilosrdan osjećaj moralne dužnosti, među svim onim srpskim, hrvatskim i bošnjačkim hijenama u šanerskim Bossovim odijelima. Kako je njemu, koji bi zbog izgubljenog obraza sebi zario blistavu čeličnu oštricu u trbuh, frustrirajuće živjeti s ološem koji ne zna što je čast, svakodnevno se susretati s nacionalističkim gangsterima koji su u Daytonu podijeli Bosnu upravo kao što su Bonannovi, Gambinovi i Genoveseovi između sebe podijelili New York.

Godinama je japanski ambasador promatrao te propalice kako u luksuznim limuzinama pod policijskom pratnjom neodgovorno jure razlokanim bosanskim drumovima, blatom prskajući sirotinju.

Guljenje odrpanaca

Slušao je bijedne, lažljive jadikovke bosanskohercegovačkih političara kako im je narod nevin stradao i još uvijek teško stradava od nekog drugog naroda, i nije mu bilo jasno, ako je stradavanje bilo tako temeljito, posvemašnje, kada su i kako onda ti nitkovi uspjeli steći sve što što su stekli? A stekli su zastrašujući, besraman imetak, svi do jednoga. I srpske i hrvatske i bošnjačke vođe uglas cmizdre i cmolje kako su njih i njihove najgore upropastili, premda svaki u kućama, stanovima, vikendicama, automobilima i gotovom novcu posjeduje najmanje deseterostruko više nego što je prije rata imao.

Mrštio se pravedni Japanac čitajući kako gadovi, kojima je, navodno, samo dobrobit njihovih Bošnjaka, Srba ili Hrvata na pameti, deru i gule te budalaste odrpance i bezdušno otimaju prirodna bogatstva svoje zemlje, građevinske parcele, pašnjake i šljivike, vode, smrekova debla i struju. Čuo je kako namještaju poslove ti najbolji sinovi tri bosanska naroda, znao je njihov postotak od svake litre nafte koja je ušla u državu.

Negdje na diplomatskom primanju netko je možda ambasadoru ispričao šalu kako je Chuck Norris samo dvaput u životu poražen: jednom je na filmu izgubio od Brucea Leeja, a drugi put od Milorada Dodika na tenderu u Laktašima. Međutim, Yamazaki-sanu to nije bilo smiješno. Ledenim se glasom ispričao i odšetao sa šampanjskom čašom u ruci, drhteći od bijesa i proklinjući sudbinu koja ga je bacila među prevrtljivce i lupeže, po svemu nalik onim Andrićevim junacima, koji su, službujući kao francuski ili austrijski ambasadori u Travniku, još prije dvije stotine godina upoznali tu bespomoćnost, usamljenost i jad.

Mučnina i gađenje

Zamišljam ga kako se zaustavio ispred prozora, kroz staklo gledajući tornjeve crkava i vitke minarete i čeznući za domom. Ljudi ipak ne bi trebali biti tako različiti, pomislio je. Pa i ovdje bi, kao i u Japanu, trebali znati za plemenitost i vitešku žrtvu. Svete knjige i jednih i drugih i trećih govore, napokon, o tome, muslimani, kao i kršćani tome se mole i klanjaju. No, ovi bosanskohercegovački grabežljivci očito nemaju Boga zajedništa i solidarnosti, Boga siromašnih, poniženih i slabih. Ove crkve i džamije pripadaju zapravo nečemu mračnom i iskonskom, nečemu prije knjiga, prije kralja Davida, Isusa Spasitelja i proroka Muhameda i uzvišenih učenja o odricanju za dobro kolektiva. Gradnju ovih čvrstih bogomolja potakla je možda samo životinjska strava pred nepoznatom prirodom.

Filozofirao je tako časni Yamazaki zureći u tešku i neprovidnu bosansku maglu koja se valjala kišnim krajolikom, a mučnina i gađenje su rasli u njemu, obuzdani i potisnuti kako već Japancima priliči, sve do trenutka kad je čuo kako bitange pljačkaju i pomoć za poplavljene krajeve. “O, marvo lopovska!” poželio je možda zavikati, ali se naposljetku ipak sabrao i prosiktao tek ono o korumpiranim kastama gluhim za potrebe sirotinje. Netko će vjerojatno primijetiti kako je i to bilo diplomatski neodmjereno, emotivni će službenik biti možda i ukoren od svojeg ministarstva, ali ako mene pitate, ja bih gospodaru Yamazakiju drugi put dao mač u ruke.

Ante Tomic, Veleposlanik Japana među hrvatskim, srpskim i bošnjačkim hijenama, Jutarnji list, 26.07.2014.

Vraćam se zato Japancima, za koje držim da su u nacionalističkom pogledu, u onom prosvećenom smislu kojim se, na kraju krajeva, i bavi ovaj serijal tekstova, superiorna pojava. Evo i primera. Sedim u kolima i posmatram Tokio kroz prozor. Vozimo se periferijskim delom, široke su ulice, malo je šetača. «Pogledajte onog čoveka!» kaže mi moj saputnik, tadašnji ambasador u Japanu Ivan Mrkić. Čovek na koga mi je njegova ekselencija skrenula pažnju, službeničkog je tipa, znači u odelu s kravatom, hoda ravnomernim korakom praznim trotoarom pušeći cigaretu. I onda vidim: on u svojoj ruci drži malu pikslu u koju, s vremena na vreme, trese pepeo cigarete. Zapanjen sam. Pitam ambasadora da li je to normalna stvar u Japanu. «O da!», kaže on, «Savim! Kad završi s cigaretom pepeljaru će zaklopiti i staviti je uredno u džep sakoa.»

Nebojsa Krstic, blog B92

Mr. Hopper, in 1969 you won the Best First Film Award in Cannes for Easy Rider. How did that moment change your life?

I bullshitted everybody and told them all my dreams and things I was going to do. And what happened afterwards? I became a total failure. I was full of shit and that’s the end of it.

What went wrong?

After Easy Rider I made The Last Movie and won the Venice Film Festival. But Universal Pictures wouldn’t distribute my movie, and that whole fight was the reason that I didn’t direct another movie for twelve years. That is unfortunate and I never really got back to mainstream Hollywood.

But you are still considered an icon.

I am honored at a lot of places for the work that I did in the ’60s.

Didn’t David Lynch’s Blue Velvet re-establish your career?

The year that I made Blue Velvet I also made Hoosiers, for which I got nominated for an Academy Award. And the same year I made a film called River’s Edge, which is a wonderful film. But none of those films were studio films.

Do you still hold a grudge against Universal?

No.

What caused the fight originally?

It was a personal thing between Lew Wasserman and me. He was the head of Universal and the most powerful man in Hollywood. I directed The Last Movie, but somehow he did not like the result.

Even though it won at the Venice Film Festival?

They wanted me to re-edit it and I refused to re-edit it after I had won in Venice. Wasserman said, “Look, if you don’t re-edit it, I am only going to show it for two weeks in New York, two weeks in Los Angeles, 3 days in San Francisco, it will never be seen in Europe and then we are going to shut it down.” I said, “That’s ridiculous! Come on, you can’t do that to me!”

So what did you do?

I went on all the talk shows. I went all over the world trying to get financing. I lived in Paris for two years trying to get financing. I lived in Mexico City for two years trying to get financing. I was young and thought I had power. But I had no power at all. I just had a big mouth! Henri Langlois put it well. He said, “When Rembrandt fucked the maid and all of his paintings were taken down, it took three hundred years to rediscover him. Dennis Hopper fucked Hollywood and we may never see his films!” (Laughs)

Would you still be so stubborn now?

If I won the Venice Film Festival, I think probably. But I have knowledge now. But anyway, it is an old story. Mr. Wasserman is dead and he did a lot of great things and I don’t have any grudges against these people. It is unfortunate because I was a really talented director. I was a forerunner and should have been allowed to make films.

After such difficulty as a director, was there ever a time when you considered giving up on acting and getting out of the business?

No. My work still keeps me happy, as limited as it is at times. I have continued to work. I have done over 150 movies, most of them independent films, most of them in different countries, living in a trailer somewhere.

Would you still like to direct?

I wanted to start directing when I was 20 years old. I was 31 when I directed Easy Rider and 33 when I directed The Last Movie, and every year since then I’ve had a film, every year I’ve tried to get them done, every year I’ve not been able to get them financed. I have directed seven movies over that period though…

Some people say that your drug abuse was the reason you never made it big as a director.

Drugs never interfered with our filmmaking. If somebody had said drugs are interfering with the filmmaking we would have stopped. I’m probably in denial… but at the time drinking and doing some cocaine to work and smoking a little grass, it was all about the work, it wasn’t about the drugs. The drugs were something we did to keep going. You could have cut off my legs and I still would have been directing movies.

What about the years after The Last Movie when you had difficulty financing any of your projects?

I think later, when one is not allowed to work and can’t get jobs or writes screenplays and no one will give you financing, then the drugs and alcohol are no longer about the work. They are about wallowing in self-pity and anger – that’s a different story.

Is it true that Wim Wenders helped you step away from drugs?

I came from Apocalypse Now to do The American Friend with Wim and when I came out of the jungles in the Philippines, Wim described me as having jungle sores all over my body. So he gave me a haircut and put me in a homburg. It was like being in a blizzard – you’re lost, you’re going to die, and suddenly this St. Bernard dog called Wim comes with cognac around his neck and saves your life. And that’s the way I felt about the situation at the time.

How bad was it at that point?

At that time I was doing probably three grams of cocaine a day and half a gallon of rum and twenty-eight beers. And I had a fifth of rum on the side in the case I ran out. (Laughs) So I started drinking beer all day long and I would drink mixed drinks, thinking I would get through the day and I’d do coke to drink more. So I was really out on the edge.

It sounds like it. Most people couldn’t function at all under those circumstances.

I lost a lot of work and a lot of opportunities because of the drugs and alcohol. It was certainly a wasted time in my opinion. I didn’t think of my life as being bad when I was using and drinking, I just thought it was out of control. I mean, when you wake up in blackouts and you don’t remember what you’ve done, that’s not a good sign.

But you must have wanted that in some way, too…

In my naïve kind of way I thought that artists had the right to drink and use drugs and to experiment and to lead a life that embraces that kind of experience. Because reading wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to experience things. I wanted to know what van Gogh felt when he cut his ear off. I wanted to know what those things, those intense kind of extremes were like. And I found out.

the-talks.com, Dennis Hopper, Cannes film festival, 2010.

We starve, look at one another, short of breath
Walking proudly in our winter coats
Wearing smells from laboratories
Facing a dying nation of moving paper fantasy
Listening for the new told lies
With supreme visions of lonely tunes
Somewhere, inside something there is a rush of
Greatness, who knows what stands in front of
Our lives, I fashion my future on films in space
Silence tells me secretly
Everything
Everything
Manchester, England, England
Manchester, England, England
Across the Atlantic Sea
And I’m a genius, genius
I believe in God
And I believe that God believes in Claude
That’s me, that’s me, that’s me
We starve, look at one another, short of breath
Walking proudly in our winter coats
Wearing smells from laboratories
Facing a dying nation of moving paper fantasy
Listening for the new told lies
With supreme visions of lonely tunes
Singing our space songs on a spider web sitar
Life is around you and in you
Answer for Timothy Leary, dearie
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
…

Read more: Hair – Let The Sunshine In Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Mr. Wenders, you once said that at the beginning of your career you felt like a painter who was searching for a way to express time. Would you still describe your approach to making films that way?

I started making movies as an extension of painting. I worked as a painter, I wanted to be a painter, but it is difficult to catch the element of time in images. So as a painter it made a lot of sense to start using a camera. When I started out as a filmmaker, it was in the mid-to-late ’60s and video was not really invented yet. There were no artists who worked with film – except some artists in America who did it in an experimental way. Most famous was probably Andy Warhol. I thought that was the future. I don’t think of myself as a painter anymore. In photography, yes, but in filmmaking I am strictly a storyteller. For me it is all about the story that I am trying to tell. That is my dominant force.

But one can definitely see the influence painting has had on your work. Some of the frames in your films could even be landscape paintings.

Of course I still make frames in order to tell stories, but each of these frames has a function in relation to this story. My first films, short films, were non-narrative. There was no story, there was nothing happening, there were no actors. It was mostly because as a painter and later on as a filmmaker I was most interested in landscapes and places, but now I am really a storyteller.

What caused you to make that transition to narrative filmmaking?

When I started out making films, I discovered very quickly that you could make a movie while you are travelling. You didn’t have to do it in a studio, you could take your camera with you on the road. I discovered that there was even a genre associated with this idea – although the road movie was more popular in America than in Europe. As soon as I started to travel with the camera, I discovered that I had found a form of expression that really suited me.

Some of your most beloved films are road movies. Why do you think that form suits you so well?

Maybe it has to do with my childhood and the atmosphere in West Germany when I grew up. It was a very narrow space in many senses: It was small to begin with, had lots of borders around, and people were, I felt, quite narrow-minded. So the greatest urge I had as a kid, the greatest pleasure, was to travel. I travelled alone for the first time in a train when I was five years old and that was a glorious day in my childhood when I sat alone on the train with nobody watching me.

Where did you go?

Just to my grandmother. My mother was pregnant and she couldn’t come with me, but she brought me to the train and tried to find people on the train who could watch me. I couldn’t believe it! I was so angry with her. I said: I don’t want anybody watching me! To my great relief she didn’t find anyone who was interested in watching me and she left the train. I was on my own and I realized that I found the greatest thing in life – travelling on my own.

Like you said, the road movie is primarily associated with American culture. Your work has been influenced by America in other ways as well and you even lived there for a long time. When did you become so fascinated by America?

It didn’t happen from one day to another. When I grew up, the first input I got from America was literature. When I started reading, I read a book every day and very soon my two favorite books were Tom Sawyer andHuckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. They were by far my favorite books when I was a kid. The next thing I really liked were comic strips. They were unknown in Germany, but I became a collector. I collected every comic strip that existed, from Mickey Mouse to Superman. The next thing that arrived was rock ‘n’ roll when I was around 10 or 12 years old. I had not been interested in music so much before because the German songs my mother listened to on the radio didn’t interest me at all. But when rock ‘n’ roll arrived I realized that this was the best music in the world. This was also American, so there was already a certain tendency. So everything I really liked when I grew up was American.

How did your parents feel about that?

I bought all these records, but because my parents hated this rock ‘n’ roll I had to keep my records at a friend’s place. But if you have to defend something that you like, it makes you to like it even more. And what I like most is that all these interests were really mine. My parents hated the comic strips, they hated rock ‘n’ roll, and when they found out what movies I was going to they also were against that. So everything I loved I had to defend.

What kind of movies were you going to?

I discovered the American cinema and especially John Ford’s work at the Cinémathèque in Paris and I had a great affinity for these films. I learned a lot through these films, how deep a film could go into your own emotions.

Is that why you included the touching moment in Alice in the Cities where Rüdiger Vogler reads the news about his death?

Yes, when John Ford died in the middle of the shoot for Alice in the Cities I was really sad because I realized that I had never met him and that I would never have the chance. With that scene I wanted to pay homage to a man whose films had meant so much to me. If you love something very much, you want to do everything you can to share that.

Was your love of American culture the reason you decided to move to the United States in the late 1970s?

I made the decision twice to go to America and I’ve made the decision twice to come back. I was there once from 1977 to 1984, I lived there for almost 8 years, but then I was lucky to come back. My first stay in America was sort of unhappy. The film that I travelled to America for was Hammett. It took an eternity to make and in the end I was not happy with the result. Then I was very lucky that I was able to make Paris, Texas, which allowed me to come back – because I didn’t want to come back defeated. I wanted to come back with something.

Well you certainly did – it won the Palme d’Or that year at Cannes.

Paris, Texas was finally the American film that I wanted to make in the first place. After that I returned to Europe and that was the end of my first adventure there. I left for America one more time twelve years later in 1996.

Why did you go back the second time?

This time it was because I felt that my home city Berlin was in bad shape. It was in deep depression in the ’90s after reunification and it was not a creative climate. I remembered America and decided to go back one more time, but with very different ideas and very different hopes. I was no longer a young, naive filmmaker.

But now you are back in Berlin.

I knew all the time that I would return. Unlike other directors from Germany and Austria who have gone to America as an exile, it was never an exile for me. It was always some sort of parallel life that I could live somewhere else. I liked America very much, I still like America very much, but at a certain point I realized that my roots and my soul is in Europe. This is the place where I belong.

Wim Wenders, the-talks.com

„Meni se čini da je važno verovati da su ljudi dobri čak i kada imaju tendenciju da budu loši, jer će se na taj način povećati vaša životna radost i sreća, a to zadovoljstvo verovanja će nadjačati povremena razočaranja. Kada kao cinik gledate na ljude, situacija je potpuno obrnuta, čineći vas nesposobnim da uživate u dobrim stvarima koje život pruža“.

„Ne verujem u život posle smrti, zato što ne moram provesti celi život bojeći se pakla ili još gore raja. Ma kakva mučenja bila u paklu, mislim da bi dosada u raju bila još gora“.

Ima sve vise ljudi za koje religija zamenjuje moral. Oni ti govore o dozvoljenom i nedozvoljenom, o cistom i necistom, pozivajuci se na citate. Vise bih volela da se bavimo onim sto je posteno, i onim sto je uljudno. Zato sto imaju religiju, veruju da su razreseni duznosti da imaju moral.

Ovo je kontraspisak Spisku Naših. S pomenutim Spiskom i sa svim spiskovima slučne sadržine ne valja se šaliti jer zavitlavanje s takvim pojavama umanjuje njihovu opasnost, a latentnu nasilničku pretnju neistomišljenicima koju takvi spiskovi predstavljaju, čini prihvatljivom. A opet, kako se odnositi prema ordinarnim glupostima koje Spisak sadrži? Znači, mora kontraspisak.

Pišem ga da bih patriotskoj javnosti dao uvid u svoj pogled na ono što pojedinac mora da zadovolji e da bi sebe nazvao «srpskim patriotom». Jer, patriotizam, po mom «skromnom ali neobično tačnom mišljenju» (copyright T. Pančić), nije orden kojim svoje poprsje može da zakiti svaka hulja i nikogović. Patriotizam nije lonac napunjen hvalisavošću, predrasudama, agresijom i glupostima. Nije to šporet na kome se kuvaju mržnja prema drugima i drugačijima i koji se, kada se pokvari, odbačen nađe u svakom srpskom potoku. Patriotizam je osobina onog plemenitog ljudskog bića koje je u sebe investiralo odgovarajući trud i koje je doseglo određenu vrednost.

Znači, redom:

1. Možeš da budeš vernik i ako nisi desničar. Možeš da bude desničar i ako nisi homofob. Možeš da si i vernik i desničar i ako nisi šovinista.

2. I peder može da bude nacionalista. Ako si nacionalista to nije dokaz da nisi peder.

3. Tvoji uzori borili su se protiv osmanliija, fašista i komunista. Želiš li da tebe pamte kao nekog ko se borio protiv pedera?

4. Ti se i sam trudiš da ličiš na svoje uzore. Zato je glupo da nekog drugog primoravaš da liči na tebe.

5. Za tvoj fudbalski klub navijaju i neki pederi. Čak i neki Hrvati.

6. Lepo je kad ljudi pevaju himnu. Ali samo ako nisu na to naterani.

7. Ako si ljubitelj Ive Andrića ne znači da si Srbin. I obrnuto.

8. Srpstvo i rusofilija nisu sinonimi.

9. Rodio si se kao Srbin bez svoje zasluge. Hrvat se rodio bez svoje krivice.

10. Poštuješ svoje roditelje, braću i sestre. Svi ljudi su nečiji roditelji, braća i sestre.

11. Dobar Srbin si ako završiš neku školu: osnovnu, zanatsku, srednju ili fakultet. S kupljenom diplomom nisi Srbin nego prevarant.

12. Srpstvo se ne dokazuje ljubavlju prema bilo kojoj stranoj zemlji.

13. Srpstvo se ne dokazuje mržnjom prema bilo kojoj stranoj zemlji.

14. Možeš da budeš Sbin i ako nisi desničar.

15. Možeš da budeš Srbin i ako nisi pravoslavac.

16. Možeš da budeš Srbin i ako nisi Srbin. (Kao Stanislav Vinaver. Kao Arčibald Rajs. Kao mnogi drugi.)

17. Ako si pristojan, ne znači da si loš Srbin.

18. Ako si Srbin onda znaš da su Andrić i Selimović napisali još nešto osim onih nekoliko rečenica koje šeruješ na Fejsbuku.

19. Nije često, ali je moguće da neko u isto vreme bude i Srbin i pristalica EU.

20. Možeš da budeš Srbin i ako ne mrziš pedere, kao što možeš da budeš fudbaler ako ne znaš da pevaš.

21. Srbi su slobodarski narod. Srbi nisu slobodni ako nisu slobodni i svi koji žive sa Srbima. Uključujući Rome i homoseksualce.

22. U Srbiji svako ima pravo na svoje mišljenje. I na svoj identitet. Ako nema, onda ni Srbi nisu…(vidi tačku 21.)

23. Dobar Srbin je junak. Junak štiti slabije. Znači, Srbin uvek štiti slabije. Čak i kad su ti slabiji žene, deca, Romi ili homoseksualci.

24. Ne može dobar Srbin da bude loš čovek. Dobar Srbin je, znači, dobar čovek. A čojstvo znači da Srbin slabije štiti čak i od sebe.

25. Neistomišljenici su izdajnici samo u društvima koja nisu slobodna. A Srbi su slobodarski narod…(vidi tačku 21.)

25. Fašisti su želeli da istrebe Jevreje, Rome, invalide i homoseksualce. A Srbi to ne rade, oni su antifašisti jer…vidi tačku 21.

25. Srbi se prepoznaju po tome što vole ćirilicu. A vole ćirilicu jer čitaju. Srbi koji čitaju, vole da čitaju sve. Čak i latinicu.

26. To što si u grupi istomišljenika, ne znači da si pametniji, hrabriji i jači. Znači, samo, da vas ima više.

27. Ako neko misli isto što i ti, ne znači da ti je prijatelj. Ako neko ne misli isto što i ti, ne znači da ti je neprijatelj.

28. Interesovanja i životne okolnosti čoveku biraju prijatelje, a ne nacionalna pripadnost.

29. Interesovanja i životne okolnosti čoveku biraju neprijatelje, a ne nacionalna pripadnost.

30. Samo ljudi, pojedinci, mogu biti prijatelji. Narodi ne mogu. Isto važi i za neprijatelje.

Kad smo kod prijatelja, evo jedne poučne priče koja govori o prijateljstvu, a važi za lične odnose, kao i za političke, pa i međunarodne.

Išao neki ćovek, jedne zime, putem kroz šumu. I naiđe on, tako, na pticu slomljenog krila kako promrzla i polumrtva leži na zemlji. Sažali se, podigne je i ugledavši nedaleko gomilu kravlje balege koja se topla još pušila, stavi je na nju da se zgreje. I ode. Nedugo zatim, toplota učini da se prica otkravi i radosna, počne da cvrkuće. Taj veseli cvrkut začuje lisica, pa dođe i pojede pticu.

Naravoučenije: nije ti uvek neprijatelj onaj ko te gurne u govna, a nije ti obavezno prijatelj onaj ko te iz njih vadi. Kad si u govnima drži jezik za zubima.

Nebojsa Krstic, Kontraspisak, Nase novine

Svi mi koji baš nikakve veze nismo imali sa precima koji su za vrijeme NDH pušili Hilteru, ubijali Židove, Srbe, Cigane i sve krivomisleće u koncentracijskim logorima opakijim od onih u Njemačkoj stidimo se naše prošlosti ali je ne možemo izbrisati. Neki naši očevi služili su se specijalnim noževima kojima su ljudima rezali vratove. NDH je bila jedina zemlja u kojoj je postojao koncentracijski logor za djecu.

Dok smo živjeli u Jugoslaviji, uređenoj zemlji, učili su nas da ne smijemo mrziti. Mržnja je bila službeno zabranjena, bili smo “nesvrstani”, jednako su nam bili mrski i “istočni” i “zapadni” zločini. Kad je Amerika u Vijetnamu ubijala ljude, biljke, životinje, jugoslavenskim su se ulicama valjale horde demonstranata koje su urlajući tražile mir. Ni jedan američki zločin jugoslavenske vlasti nisu blagoslovile.

Kad su Rusi napali Čehoslovačku, pišem o tome jer se toga sjećam, opet smo bili na cesti. “Čehoslovacima” koji su tada ljetovali kod nas pružali smo svu moguću pomoć i utjehu. Titu tada nije padalo na pamet da puši Rusima, jednostavno, klečanje mu nije išlo. Dok sam živjela u Jugoslaviji, jebe mi se što će o ovome što pišem reći hrvatski nacići, plaćenici iz EPH i ostale budale opranoga mozga, bila sam ponosna na svoju zemlju. Znala sam u kakvom svijetu živim, državne novine, televizija i radio nikad mi zločince nisu prikazivale kao dobre momke.

Danas, danas živim u sprdačini od zemlje i oči mi padaju od srama kao da sam sama kriva za to. Nisam! Nisam glasala za HDZ! Nisam glasala za SDP! Nisam glasala za pljačku naroda! Nisam glasala za rat! Nisam glasala za mržnju! Nisam glasala za današnju hrvatsku glad, bijedu, nezaposlenost. Znam da ne živimo u smeću od zemlje zbog “svjetske krize” nego lokalnih lopova. Ni to mi ne pomaže.

Današnja NDH ista je poput pokojne samo su sredstva ubijanja sofisticiranija. Naši trenutačni pavelići puše Americi, Hitleru većem od Hitlera, ne ubijaju Srbe jer su ih. što dali ubiti što protjerali…Znam, oni su napali nas, mi smo se samo branili…Govorim o civilima koje smo pobili. Ni u koncentracijskim logorima NDH nisu čučali ratni zločinci. Naši pavelići danas ne ubijaju ni Židove, naprotiv. Nama su Židovi danas, kad kažem “ŽIdovi” mislim na fašističku vlast države Izrael, ono što nam je za vrijeme stare NDH bio Hitler. U današnjoj NDH ubijaju se Hrvati sa toliko perverznom strašću da čovjek zbog očaja poželi sam sebi hrvatskom kamom prerezati hrvatski vrat.

Šutimo. Jedini u cibviliziranom svijetu šutimo dok Ameri i Židovi ubijaju Gazu. Veću je šansu za spas od smrti nožem, metkom, plinom pred sedamdeset i četiri godine imao Židov pred Hitlerom nego to danas ima Palestinac pred Amerima i Židovima. Normalni svijet je na nogama. Mladi, stari, djeca, svi su na ulicama svjetskih gradova. Dižu glas protiv najvećeg zla na kugli zemaljskoj. Na demonstracijama u Londonu snimljen je ultra ortodoksni Židov sa palestinskom zastavom u ruci. Prosvjeduju i Židovi u Izraelu. Nije problem u židovskom narodu nego u razbojnicima koji vladaju Izraelom i Amerike koja ih plaća.

Svi su, dakle, na cesti. Za naše medije to nije vijest. Našim su političarima usta toliko puna američke sperme da će se zbog toga mojim praprapraunucima dizati želudac. Pa ipak, to nam ne bi smio biti alibi kao što onima koji su živjeli za vrijeme one NDH nikad nismo oprostili što su ubijali nevine ili nijemo gledali pokolj.

Kome ja govorim? Hrvatski narod je jednostavno SMEĆE. Jebe se nama za tisuće pobijene palestinske djece, staraca, žena. Jebe se nama što se na kioscima prodaju novine poput Jutarnjeg lista kome je rušenje aviona koji je letio iznad ratne zone jedina bitna svjetska vijest. Iz dana u dan nas bombardiraju podacima koliko je u avionu poginulo dječice, koliko staraca, koliko stručnjaka za AIDS. Putin je strušio avion. Kad skonča Putin onako kako je skončao Gadafi Zemlja će biti spašena.

Jebite se, pučaši američkoga kurca! Koliko je staraca pobijeno u Gazi? Koliko je dječice pobijeno u Gazi? Koliko je dječaka danas ubijenih u Gazi moglo postati vrhunskim strčnjacima za AIDS i ne samo za AIDS? Jebe se vama. Palestinci su za vas, kako davno reče Orwel, “ne ljudi”. Tko jebe Plaestince? Isti onaj koji je jebao Židove, cigane, krivomisleće, Srbe…

Jugoslavije nema. Nitko od građana NDH 2014. neće izaći na cestu i urlati protiv Zločina. Govna smo bili, govna ostali. Meni Jugoslavija nedostaje. Tada sam sebe držala čovjekom.

Vedrana Rudan, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska 2014.

Vous les hommes êtes tous les mêmes
Macho mais cheap
Bande de mauviettes infidèles
Si prévisibles, non je ne suis pas certaine, que tu m’mérites
Z’avez d’la chance qu’on vous aime
Dis-moi “Merci”

Rendez-vous, rendez-vous, rendez-vous au prochain règlement
Rendez-vous, rendez-vous, rendez-vous sûrement aux prochaines règles

Cette fois c’était la dernière
Tu peux croire que c’est qu’une crise
Matte une dernière fois mon derrière, il est à côté de mes valises
Tu diras au revoir à ta mère, elle qui t’idéalise
Tu n’vois même pas tout c’que tu perds
Avec une autre ce serait pire
Quoi toi aussi tu veux finir maintenant ?
C’est l’monde à l’envers !
Moi je l’disais pour t’faire réagir seulement… toi t’y pensais

Rendez-vous, rendez-vous, rendez-vous au prochain règlement
Rendez-vous, rendez-vous, rendez-vous sûrement aux prochaines règles

Facile à dire, je suis gnangnan
Et que j’aime trop les bla bla bla
Mais non non non, c’est important
Ce que t’appelles les ragnagnas
Tu sais la vie c’est des enfants
Mais comme toujours c’est pas l’bon moment
Ah oui pour les faire là tu es présent
Mais pour les élever y’aura qu’des absents

Lorsque je n’serais plus belle
Ou du moins au naturel
Arrête je sais que tu mens
Il n’y a que Kate Moss qui est éternelle
Moche ou bête, c’est jamais bon !
Bête ou belle, c’est jamais bon !
Belle ou moi, c’est jamais bon !
Moi ou elle, c’est jamais bon !

Tous les mêmes, tous les mêmes, tous les mêmes et y’en a marre (x3)
Tous les mêmes, tous les mêmes, tous les mêmes

Stromae – Tous Les Mêmes

When a friend gave me her newborn baby to hold, my only thought was when it was acceptable to hand it back and go out and have a cigarette. I wasn’t what they nauseatingly call “broody”. So when I met my new partner, having children was not a consideration. We were too busy having sex. Unfortunately, she became pregnant. Condoms are so annoying. She was pretty erratic about taking the pill. How ironic that phrase “family planning” sounds now. Not for us the happy tears when the blue line appeared on the testing kit. Instead, I hoped she would have a termination; previous girlfriends had. She didn’t want to, so I had to make the best of it.

Fast-forward one year and we now have a son and I don’t have a life any more. Previously, existence was about going to the pub, meeting women and working to pay for the above. Now I work to support my partner and child, and it’s awful. Perhaps the cruellest part of it is that if my son wasn’t around, my partner wouldn’t be in the picture either. I would have left her ages ago. We weren’t particularly compatible, except in bed, and now even that has dried up. I was attracted to her because she was young and silly and carefree. Now she’s young and resentful and a nag. We’re still together because I would feel like a bastard if I left her.

They say you look at your parents in a new light when you become a father yourself, and I certainly do. I look at my dad and feel apologetic

What I’m really thinking: the reluctant dad, The Guardian, July 19

Ms. Abramović, did you ever doubt that you were an artist?

When I taught art I was always asked, “How do you know you’re an artist? What makes you an artist?” And to me it’s like breathing. You don’t question if you breathe, you have to breathe. So if you wake up in the morning and you have to realize an idea, and there’s another idea, and another, maybe you are really an artist. It doesn’t make you a great artist, it just makes you an artist. To become a great artist is a huge undertaking! So it’s really important, that instinct. You need the instinct to do it.

How does that instinct manifest itself in your life? How do new ideas to come to you?

I hate studios. A studio is a black hole. I never use a studio to work. It’s very artificial to go to a studio to get new ideas. You have to get new ideas from life, not from the studio. Then you go to the studio to realize the idea. For me the most important spaces to be are the spaces in between – like in airports or lobbies of hotels – when you’re leaving one space and you arrive to another space. Before you start to make new habits you’re really open to destiny, you’re more perceptive, you see things. If you ask someone who has made the same commute to work everyday for 25 years to describe his own door, he probably couldn’t do it. But if you bring the same person to Japan and ask him afterwards to describe something, he could do it because his perception would be open.

Your popularity has grown significantly lately, especially among the general public. Is it strange for this to happen to you so late in your career?

You know, if you were 25 years old and this happened to you and from one day to the next you become respected and you’re in all the newspapers, then it could really get to your head and you could become very narcissistic. In my life I’ve seen so many artists rise and fall like that, but to me it has always been the aim. So having success at 65 doesn’t change anything in my life, but it amuses me a lot that it happened so late. To be in a magazine when you’re 20 is okay, but when you do it when you’re 65 it’s much more fun!

It sounds like you’re enjoying it.

I’m enjoying it very much. Fashion cover stories, I come to the hotel and someone takes care of my clothes, I only carry hand luggage, people think of me – all these little extra bonuses you get. I’m really enjoying every minute of it. But this is just vanity.

Is it only vanity or can fashion have something to do with art?

I have the answer to this! (Pulls out her iPad) This is the photo we did with Mario Testino for V Magazine, and then I did one for Pop Magazine… But then the thing I wanted to show you was from Visionaire Magazine. Riccardo Tisci, the designer for Givenchy, was guest-editing it and he asked me for an artistic collaboration. I said, “Okay Riccardo, do you admit that fashion is the popularization of art, that fashion always takes ideas from art?” And he said yes. So I said, “Okay, then we’ll do a collaboration: I’m the art, you’re the fashion, suck my tit.” So that’s what we did.

Brilliant.

So I call this piece “The Contract” and that’s exactly what it is: a contract between fashion and art. You just have to understand what that means, so when I go into fashion I really go in consciously. Anyway, he was very nervous doing that piece. (Laughs)

It just seems like there’s something about the commercialism of fashion that art should rise above.

Yeah, but what about the commercialism of art? It’s all the same. Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons and all these guys have become commodities. But I’ve never made concessions about my art. I’ve never made anything just to sell it, so my conscious is very clear. I’m a woman and I love to wear clothes and what’s the problem!(Laughs)

Do you worry that the public’s perception of you as a popular figure might change the effect of your art?

They say, “How can she wear the haute couture stuff like that?” and I say, “Why not?” Of course, every positive thing brings something negative, like yin and yang. This kind of conflict comes all the time and you have to always see what your aim as an artist is. What is your duty, what is your truth.

And what is your aim as an artist?

The entire aim of my work is to elevate the human spirit. We can put the human spirit down so easily. Art reflecting society as it is today is not an answer because it’s already shitty, so why put more shit into it? You have to find a way to actually elevate the spirit so that it’s a kind of oxygen to society. To bring concepts and awareness, to ask the right questions. Not always the right answers, but that the right questions being asked.

How does an art piece do that?

Art must have many layers. Art is not just about another beautiful painting that matches your dining room floor. Art has to be disturbing, art has to ask a question, art has to predict the future. It has to do all these kinds of things. An art concept has to have so many layers so that every part of society can take what it needs.

I think your MoMA piece – where you sat in the atrium during the museum’s opening hours for three months – was so successful because it was very accessible, because it had so many layers. How did you come up with that concept?

For the MoMA show we wanted to show only the work where I am literally physically present and this is where we got the title The Artist Is Present. I really wanted to create the kind of situation where seeing the performance art can be a really important experience, but also be understood as a mainstream form of art. Because performance has always been an alternative form of art and I want to make it mainstream. So this is what made it click. This and Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga?

Lady Gaga became such a big part of this change because she entered the museum to see the show. She didn’t sit with me because the line was too long, but the moment she entered there was a twitter everywhere that she was in the museum. So the kids from 12 and 14 years old to about 18, the public who normally don’t go to the museum, who don’t give a shit about performance art or don’t even know what it is, started coming because of Lady Gaga. And they saw the show and then they started coming back. And that’s how I get a whole new audience.

That show seems like a real turning point for your career.

It really turned into the mainstream public. It’s very interesting. This is the piece that changed my life completely – every possible element, every physical emotion – because three months is like life.

How long has it been a goal of yours to make performance art mainstream?

40 years. I’ve really waited a long time. But my whole purpose in life is to communicate what I’m doing. I see myself as a modern nomad and a soldier at the same time. Being mainstream won’t change me because once I have something to perform, a task, then I’m a soldier. And I’ve always been a soldier.

The Talks, Marina Abramovic, I’ve always been a soldier

Još uvek pamtim kako su se pre nešto manje od dve godine gotovo svi besno bacili na mene povodom mojih 15 pitanja ateistima i 15 pitanja pravoslavnima, objavljenih na ovom istom sajtu. Tada je čitava javnost bila uznemirena presudom članicama grupe Pussy Riot i meni se učinilo važno da svi mi, što preciznije odredimo o čemu mi to zapravo razgovoramo.

A sada, kada je „rusko proleće“ već prešlo u „rusko leto“, kod mene su se ponovo pojavila mnoga pitanja.

Unapred se izvinjavam svima koje ova moja pitanja mogu uvrediti. Čujete li? Izvinjavam se!

Ja sam skroz-naskroz Rus, Rus čije su ime, uzgred, neki dobri ljudi uneli u spisak neprijatelja ruskog naroda. I dužan sam još nešto da vam kažem. Ja ne znam odgovore na niže pobrojana pitanja.

1. Zašto vi za sebe mislite da ste Rus? Zbog čiste krvi ili je u vaš krvotok (kao i u moj) osim ruskih umešano još litar i po finskih, poljskih, turskih i romskih leukocita? Možda zbog jezika? Da li je maternji ruski jezik to što vas čini Rusom? Ili je možda razlog tome nešto drugo?

2. Osećate li vi užitak zbog toga što ste Rus? Raduje li vas makar to što razumete neprevodive ruske reči i izraze kao što su na primer „да нет“ ili „всё ничего“.

3. Šta je dobro kod Rusa? To što nije – znamo: mnogo piju, agresivni su, a naručuju kapućino pre večere. A šta je dobro? Koje su im pozitivne, samo njima svojstvene crte nacionalnog karaktera?

4. Kako izgleda tipičan ruski pejsaž? To jest, ja lako sebi mogu da predstavim čoveka kako posle dugogodišnjeg stranstvovanja, sav raznežen stoji pred ruskim brezama i uzdiše. No hoćete li vi, s patriotskim ushićenjem ljubiti crni kamčatski pesak? Ili vlažnu mahovinu jamalske tundre? Gde su granice rodne grude? Što se Krima tiče, sve je jasno. Krim je zavetna zemlja, „svetinja ruskih mornara“ i sve ostalo u tom stilu. A da je Hruščov Ukrajini poklonio ne Krim već Belgorodsku oblast, da li biste tada bili manje uvređeni? Da, zato vas i pitam: gde su granice svete rodne grude? Ruku na srce: Kunašir, Iturup i Šikotan, da li je to vaša otadžbina? A Aljaska? Da li vam je žao što više nije naša?

5. Koja je naša najveća nacionalna tragedija? To jest, pobeda – ako me dobro razumete?

Naravno, naših tragedija ima dovoljno za deset naroda. No ipak, koja je od tih tragedija ona glavna? Mongolsko-tatarski jaram? Rascep Ruske crkve? Viševekovno ropstvo? Revolucija? Kolektivizacija? GULAG? Raspad Sovjetskog Saveza?

6. Kada je bio naš Zlatni vek? Za vreme Ivana IV? Petra I? Za vreme Aleksandra I? Za vreme vladavine Staljina? Ili je naš Zlatni vek nastupio sad, pri vlasti Putina?

7. Ko je naš najveći heroj? Radion Osljabja? Knez Požarski? Suvorov? Žukov?

8. Ko je naš najveći prorok? Avakum Petrov? Puškin? Tolstoj? Solženjicin?

9. Koja pesma je naša nacionalna uspavanka? (Mene ovo pitanje posebno zanima. Bez pomoći folklornih zbirki, meni na pamet pada samo ona „tamo su svi mužiki zli, kao lancima vezani psi, biju se, tuku se, sekirama seku se“ i na kraju „tamo danima pada kiša, a praznicima isto kiša“. Meni su, na primer, umesto uspavanki pevali pesmu o Ščorsu i onu, „Tamna je noć“.)

10. Koji je naš nacionalni ples? Irci, kada su radosni igraju žigu, Kavkasci – lezginku, Jevreji – frejlehs, a mi – šta?

11. Koja je naša nacionalna igra? Koja je to igra koja će svakog Rusa podsetiti na detinjstvo i koja se više nigde na svetu ne igra? Samo mi nemojte reći – fudbal. Ili, koja je to igra u kojoj smo mi ubedljivo najbolji? (Evropljani bi po staroj navici rekli – šah.)

12. Kako izgleda ruska narodna nošnja? (Nijedan narod nije obavezan da čuva uspomene na svoju nacionalnu nošnju, no mnogi su je ipak sačuvali. Škotlanđani – kilt, Japanci – kimono, Ukrajinci – haljine i košulje ukrašene vezom.) Kako biste se vi obukli za večerinku u ruskom stilu?

13. Koje je naše nacionalno jelo? Ne šči. On to odavno više nije. Nacionalno jelo je to što se jede svaki dan. Italijani – špagete ili makarone, Abhasci – mamaljigu, Kinezi – pirinač, Amerikanci – hamburger. A mi? Da nisu peljmeni? (Za nacionalno piće vas neću pitati. To znamo.)

14. Kakva smrt se kod nas naziva dostojnom?

15. Koji narodi su nama bratski?

Valerij Panjuškin, 15 pitanja Rusima, Snob.ru 01.07.2014.

Prevod s ruskog Haim Moreno, Peščanik.net, 13.07.2014.

doktore što se to događa sa mnom
osjećam se čudno
imam 37 godina i vrijednu diplomu
uznemiruju me noćne polucije
i boli me glava
profesor sam na srednjoj školi
tamo predajem neka lijeva prava
onanija mi je redovna
mjesečna plaća mizerna
što da radim bez akcije čitavi dan
dok sam bio student kružio sam često
čitao praxis polemizirao vješto
anarhizam mi je bio u krvi
svi na barikade
sanjao sam kako vodim proletere mlade
a danas doktore pomozi mi
teško mi je vjeruj mi
što da radim bez akcije čitavi dan
moje društvo za šankom ordinira od 19 do 22
ono niti eksa niti galami
zuri u prazno i truli
šljakeri spavaju po tramvajima
djeca se ljube na ulicama
noći su frajerske i uvijek na smetnji
noći su samo na smetnji
ja sada idem iz ovih stopa
ja sada idem iz ovih stopa
da se bacim ravno u savu

šezdeset
osam šezdeset
vratit će se opet
osam šezdeset
šljakeri spavaju po tramvajima
djeca se ljube na ulicama
noći su frajerske i uvijek na smetnji
noći su samo na smetnji
ja sada idem iz ovih stopa
ja sada idem iz ovih stopa
da se bacim ravno u savu

šezdeset
osam šezdeset
vratit će se opet
osam šezdeset

His smile did not reach his eyes.