Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

seven years in tibet


Heinrich Harrer (6 July 1912 – 7 January 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer, sportsman, geographer, and author. He is best known for being on the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland, and for his books Seven Years in Tibet (1952) and The White Spider (1959).

In 1948, Harrer became a salaried official of the Tibetan government, translating foreign news and acting as Court photographer. Harrer first met the 14th Dalai Lama when he was summoned to the Potala Palace and asked to make a film about iceskating, which Harrer had introduced to Tibet. Harrer built a cinema for him, with a projector run off a Jeep engine. Harrer soon became the Dalai Lama's tutor in English, geography, and some science, and Harrer was astonished at how fast his pupil absorbed the Western world's knowledge. A strong friendship developed between the two that would last the rest of their lives.

In 1952, Harrer returned to Austria where he documented his experiences in the books Seven Years in Tibet (1952) and Lost Lhasa (1953). Seven Years in Tibet was translated into 53 languages, and was a bestseller in the United States in 1954, selling three million copies. The book was the basis of two films of the same title, the first in 1956 and the second in 1997, starring Brad Pitt in the role of Harrer.

In Seven Years in Tibet, Harrer wrote:

Wherever I live, I shall feel homesick for Tibet. I often think I can still hear the cries of wild geese and cranes and the beating of their wings as they fly over Lhasa in the clear cold moonlight. My heartfelt wish is that my story may create some understanding for a people whose will to live in peace and freedom has won so little sympathy from an indifferent world. (read more) (7 years in tibet trailer)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

strangers


I have unexpected urges...

to talk to strangers...

I'm doing it now...

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

American Isolation


I have been worried for some time now about the attitudes coming from American individuals, there seems to be even more sensitivety than usual lately, which is why I’m writing this, to clear the air and try and get a grip on what is really happening. Americans, along with everyone else are being asked to “Wake up” to look at our respective governments and cultures and challenge what we see to be part of the conspiracy to enslave all of us. Yet time after time when it comes to the crunch Americans will retreat into a defensive position, quoting propaganda such as “We are Free” yet when a definition is sought for “freedom” none is given.

Clearly we are none of us free and are all the victims of the propaganda machine. We each have to see through it for ourselves, find our way through the rabbit hole, learn critical thinking and make our own minds up, as long as it really is our own minds then rational debate and discussion will not be a problem. What concerns me, particularly recently is that rational debate is very hard with brothers and sisters across the pond, not only for me, many friends of mine are finding that American people are becoming very emotional when their programming is challenged and cut themselves off from further contact.

The whole body scanner in the US and TSA scandal and lack of funds has stopped Americans travelling abroad, this together with the false flag of terrorism means that for the past ten years we have seen very few American tourists in England, travellers are open to new ideas and concepts and may well have taken some home with them. Now with the TSA and body scanners many people will be put off from travelling to America. People who could have told you what is really going on here will not be visiting.

The Wikileaks seems to be designed to ridicule the US government and to highlight the prejudices you may have against foreigners and has already caused a lot of anti American rhetoric here. The call from US senators to make Wikileaks a terrorist organisation has met with sighs and shakes of disapproval, many here are already astonished at how much the American individual will allow their own government to get away with, and are perhaps beyond words.

My worry at the moment is that Americans, the individual men and women that we know and love are becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, that real communication is becoming harder and harder, debate, already hard is now becoming impossible. As even the gentlest attempt at waking up an individual is met with emotive accusations at everyone "hating America" we don’t, we hate enslavement of us all, and most truly believe that unless we are all free no one is, many people are putting up with all sorts of abuse just to stay in touch, we don’t want to loose you Americans, we want your freedom too!

Isolation is a real danger to Americans, you are living in a huge country with a well-oiled propaganda machine, and you have been “dumbed down” for generations both through propaganda and through your diet. You can be told what it’s like out here and many of you will believe it. You government is already shutting down web sites, with out warrants and it seems this situation will escalate. Your government has already built 600 internment camps in the US and the whole Denver Airport situation seems very creepy.

Please, please do not allow yourselves to be isolated any further, dislike me and other “alien nationals” all you want, debate with me all you want, prove me wrong, which I would love, I do not want to think we are all so easily manipulated and I would hate to loose any more friends from over the pond. My maiden name is Alden, highly likely therefore that one of my ancestors sailed on the Mayflower, and I do, as do many others, all over the world think of you as brothers and sisters, members of a great family that is man, my hand will always be held out in friendship, many others are here for you too, please remember that through the days ahead.

With love and best wishes, always