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The name is Konstantin Klein. I'm a senior editor with Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin, Germany. I've been blogging since October 30, 2000, under various blog and domain names. This is the 2010 edition of my weblog.

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His Own Pirate

Verbote sind selten eine Lösung. Viel klüger wäre es, die Vorteile der neuen Technologie zu nutzen, um gute Literatur zu unterstützen und zu verbreiten.
Author Paulo Coelho via berlinonline.de

(Translation by me, although the original article itself was translated from English: Bans are rarely a solution. It would be much wiser to take advantage of new technologies to support and spread good literature.)

Taken from an essay by Brazilian lyricist and novelist Paulo Coelho, published (in German) in today's Berliner Zeitung. Coelho is running his own pirate portal on the web - a site linking to translations of his own writings for free. Not all of his publishers think that this is a good idea. When confronted, Coelho himself refers to the sales figures of his books which are steadily climbing - not in spite of the free downloads but rather supported by them.

Coelho is also a blogger and has a Twitter account.

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Filed under  //  books   copyright   net life  
Comments (2)
Posted 2 months ago

I read

A letter, beginning with "Dear American Airlines" doesn't necessarily mean the writer holds the company dearly. Quite the opposite, Bennie Ford, lead character of Dear American Airlines (also available, under the same title, in German) has little inhibitions to let the airline which is supposed to carry him to his daughter's lesbian wedding (oh the Google juice!) know that he is less than pleased to be stranded on Chicago's O'Hare airport for an entire night instead of being on the afternoon flight to California. Ford sets out to demand a refund of the $ 392.68 he paid for the airline ticket, and before we know it, his rant is about getting a refund for an entire life gone to the dogs.

As a young man, Bennie had plans to be a poet and later found himself making a living by translating obscure Polish literature into English. He had planned to be a family man, ending up in a hapless marriage and alcohol-induced relationships instead. And his only dream, leading his daughter to the altar, was essentially botched by the girl's sexual preference (even in California, a ceremony between two women doesn't really count as marriage) and finally ruined by American Airlines' flight cancellations.

Unfortunately (for the more sensitive reader), Bennie Ford's account, written by Jonathan Miles, is hilarious, pure fun to read - especially for those who inadvertedly have spend a night at an airport and did not find out that it all, especially the lost night, is part of a greater plan to make one's life miserable.

Must read if stranded at an airport.

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Posted 2 months ago