The Absurdity of Driving Culture
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The Absurdity of Driving Culture

Byrichard

For a long time I thought that driving would give me freedom. I was impatient to be old enough to drive, and then I was impatient to pass my driving test. I failed the theory three times in Switzerland, zero in England, and the practical in England once, and once in Switzerland. Eventually I did pass my driving test in England, on Valentine’s day. I then drove to see the girlfriend of the time.

Driving has given me the freedom to go to and from work without waiting for trains. It has given me the freedom to live according to my schedule, and shifts, rather than other peoples’.

It has also cost me my freedom. The absurdity of driving is that you are responsible for getting drunk friends to their home, and you are responsible for driving people from A to B when you’re hiking, climbing and more. Having a car means that you have to drive to see people who don’t have a car. Driving a car means that you have to make the effort to see others, but they will not make the effort to see you.

The Necessity of Cars

Having a car is about remoteness from work, from play and from more. It’s about always having to get into the car, to do anything:

  • seeing friends
  • shopping for food
  • commuting to work
  • going for a walk
  • going for a bike ride
  • going to snowboard
  • going to a restaurant
  • going to the cinema.

Tonight I have to drive for at least an hour, if I’m not unlucky with traffic, to have a dinner, and then drive home. I have to drive at rush hour by Morges, one of the most awful places for traffic at rush hour. A few years ago I would arrive an early for rock climbing, slightly after Morges, because of how awful traffic was. I got told off by the cashier at the climbing place, for being to early for the special deal the group had. As if that wasn’t enough I eventually struggled to find parkings and got a fine. After that I stopped making the effort.

What sealed the deal was “let’s meet to climb in Gland” and a person answered “no way”. It was fine for me to face traffic but people weren’t ready to do the same for me. All of my friendships died when I decided that I was tired of driving.

When you drive, and when you have space for others it iss assumed that you are ready and willing to drive others,and sometimes you are volunteered, without being asked. This is especially annoying. Picking people up often adds half an hour to an hour to travel time. You become their chauffeur. In one case someone just went to sleep, as if I was a bus driver. It’s great to be so trusted. It’s unpleasant to be so used.

Building More Homes Without Adding More Buses

Recently Vaud has busy building new houses and apartments anywhere with a garden. They have destroyed old single family homes and replaced them with apartment buildings. The result is that there has been a surge of car traffic. This is bad for two reasons. The first reason is that villages that were once filled with green gardens have been turned into tarmac hells. The trees and the grass is gone, replaced by buildings with underground parkings.

The Daily Traffic Jam

Recently I have noticed that the A1 motorway that passes by Nyon is blocked in both directions consistently, as the number of cars and local population increases. They’re happy to “densify” people and villages, but they forgot that densification increases traffic. What were once quiet roads are now saturated with cars.

This morning, due to the motorway being blocked, local roads were blocked too. By increasing housing, without increasing public transport infrastructure there are more cars than ever, using a road network that is not suited to so many cars.

Buses and Bikes Make More Sense

That’s where frequent buses, and dedicated cycle routes would make a huge difference. If it was safe to cycle, rather than drive, then people commuting from villages to Nyon gare could take bikes. With an increased bus schedule people could leave their cars at home and ignore their cars until the weekend, and even then cars could remain parked.

Dormant Start/stop

For context, I have a car with stop/start technology. If I stop at a traffic light the engine stops. When I drive the car it never works, because I use the car twice a week. When other people used my car, this summer, I finally experienced that it starts and stops when it’s at a traffic light.

Before having two summers without a car, and before the pandemic, I didn’t think anything of people’s over-reliance on cars. During the honeymoon of lock downs, when the car was dormant, I got to see how fantastic the area where I live is, for hiking and walking, without getting into a car. I miss the freedom of living without the need to use the car.

Unwanted Journey

Tonight I need to use the car. I need to waste petrol with at least an hour of driving, if traffic is good, and two hours or more if traffic is bad. I don’t mind driving during the day, to do something. I do mind driving at night, to do something that brings me no pleasure.

Escape

If the cleaning Gremlin comes tomorrow afternoon for example, I would be happy to have somewhere to flee to. The point is that today I’m destroying the environment, for nothing.I wouldn’t mind driving for a walk, but I really mind driving for a dinner.

And Finally

At the moment they’re increasing carrying capacity for the motorway entries and exits, and they’re speaking of increasing the motorway to three lanes in each direction. I think this is absurd. I think that rather than encourage more car use they should diminish reliance on cars. More buses, more trains, more safe walking routes. All of these would help reduce traffic, rather than encourage it to grow.

This evening I face the absurdity of driving culture, yet again.

Quai Des Brumes – Filmin and Film Culture

Quai Des Brumes – Filmin and Film Culture

Byrichard

Filmin is a Spanish video streaming site that offers old films, documentaries and television series. It provides an alternative to Netflix, Amazon Prime and other video streaming services that provide mainly mainstream films and television series.


For a while I was watching Northern Exposure, a series that has not been broadcast for a while on English language platforms. it’s an interesting series that is still relevant today.


I also watched Nanook of the North and I found this to be a pleasant documentary. It’s observational, observing the inuit people as they go through an “ordinary day”. It was criticised because of how the igloo scenes and others were setup, but I still think it has value, despite this. They didn’t have the technology that we have today, to shoot in low light conditions.


Quai Des Brumes


Quai Des Brumes is a film that I read about several times when I was studying the history of Cinéma, so I wanted to see it. It was shot in 1939, in Le Havre, when the weather was foggy.


Historical Scenes


I could re-read film theory books, to rehash what film historians write about it but I think it’s more interesting to look at other aspects. One of them is the truck scene at the beginning. The offer and smoking of cigarettes without filters, and then the swerve to avoid the dug, precipitated by Jean, rather than the driver.


We also see a lot of smoke. We see smoke from buildings, we see smoke from steam ships. We see steam ships with two to three smoke stacks. We also see the unloading of ships before containerisation. We see them use ropes, cranes, but also people transporting sacks onto the ships.


This film, as much as being film history, is also a documentary of another age. 1939 France.


The Panama Scene


The Panama scene reminds us of life before mobile phones and television. We see people talk with each other, walking around and that ship that was mounted in a bottle. We see the water tank with a tap, where gravity feeds the water through so that you can rinse your hands under the flowing water, before running water.


The Old Style Car


If, like me, you read La Bande a Picsou and other comics then you are familiar with the old style of car, the style where two people sit at the front, and a third person can sit at the back, if you flip the boot open. Until this film I thought these cars were from comic books, not real life.


The Bar Scene


“How much does a bedroom cost?”


“18 Francs”


“Can I have a small glass?, no not in a small glass, give me a big glass”


And a little later


“Can I have a bedroom”


“It’s early, don’t you want to wait?”


“Yes”


“Do you want a drink?”


“No I want to sleep”


This film is written by Jacques Prévert, a poet, and it shows in scenes like the one above.


  • Poetic realism films are “recreated realism”, stylised and studio-bound, rather than approaching the “socio-realism of the documentary”.


The Beauty of Old Films


What makes watching old films so interesting is that each one is different. Writers explore topics, and tell stories in unique and original ways, that keep you interested. When you watch old films you stop staring at your phone or laptop and get transported into the film.


In contrast a lot of American films are formulaic, to such a degree that after 15 minutes you know the entire storyline. Such films are uninteresting to watch, which is why we play with phones and other distractions.


Film as Art Rather Than Amateurism


One of the greatest frustrations of modern video content creation is that for a big proportion of content, it is produced by people that did not study classical film, that did not study montage, that did not study the history of film and television, so their story telling is less interesting, and their editing less artful.


Andrew Keen wrote of the Cult of Amateur, and YouTube and Instagram have become the temples of the amateur. Old films can be boring, but every shot was considered, framed and contextualised. Film and television should remain as an art form, rather than what it has become today.


I love the idea of YouTube, but I hate that it settles for the lowest common denominator, for tabloid sensationalism, rather than content with value.


And Finally


We have over a century of films to choose from, and yet streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime and others only show the newest crap, rather than the interesting vintage films. It’s good to have new content, but I think that streaming services should cater to every age group, not just the young. Cinema is rich and diverse, and streaming services should grab the opportunity provided by old films.

World Television

World Television

Byrichard

Now that I know that I can treat Netflix as an international film festival I do. Last night I watched the first episode of Crash Landing on You. A South Korean film about a woman CEO who goes for a parapente flight, gets caught in a storm, and dropped in North Korea. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXMjTXL2Vks


The premise of this television show is interesting because it’s based on a true incident with a South Korean celebrity, but also because this is something we think about much less, especially in Europe, since most borders ceased to be watched. 


In my own lifetime borders between France, Switzerland and other countries have been closed down for the most part. We can walk between countries without ever showing our passports. I often drive from Switzerland to Spain without showing a passport. It’s nice. Europe is a village. 


That’s where Crash Landing on You is so interesting. It shows us a completely different culture, one where borders still exist. If you’re in the US or other countries, where borders still hold importance then the cultural interest is diminished. 


I watch the content in Korean, with English subtitles that are sometimes displayed too briefly in some cases. They need to rethink the reading time of subtitles. 


It’s great that Netflix actively encourages people to search for content by original language, but also that if we choose to watch Korean, French, or other language content, that it shows associated content. It’s a way of making Netflix more international, more multicultural, and more inclusive. 


Until I found this feature I felt that Netflix was to US centric and that the content on offer was of no interest to me, for the most part. 


Now that view has changed, as I have a wealth of new content to watch. 

Netflix – Browse By Language
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Netflix – Browse By Language

Byrichard

Recently Netflix added a Browse by Language option which means that you can browse for content by original language. Yesterday I saw that I can browse for content in French, Italian, Polish,, Korean, German and many more languages. I could list more but that’s dull. Instead I want to focus on the opportunities it opens up. 



With YouTube, Apple Films and other platforms you can search for films but they are either in French, German or Italian in Switzerland and it’s hard to find content that is in its original language. 


For English speaking YouTube creators they always say with “frogspawn VPN you can pretend you’re in country A to watch content from there” etc. This does appeal to me in rare situations. What appeals more is the freedom to search for French, Italian or Korean content. By watching a film made in French, Italian, Korean or any other language you are entering a different culture. 


One of my favourite films, when I watched 90 films in the span of 9 months or so was that I saw films I would not otherwise see. Brotherhood, the Korean film is excellent. I also really enjoyed Hong Kong martial arts films. 


It is for this reason that last night I watched the King’s Affection, episode 1.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4zM7jHdVFc


With Netflix and Amazon Prime it is was to get stuck watching US and UK content without thinking of watching content in other languages. Netflix has now made it possible to explore the world of film and television, on an international, cross-cultural scale. You have thirty two languages to choose from. Now you see why I didn’t list them all earlier. 


Last night Netflix removed Young Sheldon from Netflix Switzerland so I was angry. I cancelled my subscription until I noticed the browse by language feature, and then Netflix became as rich and diverse as a film festival. By selecting Russian, Romanian, Telugu or another language you travel through space and time to other cultures, other values, and different ways of seeing the world. 


I had skimmed over Netflix France and noticed that they had a lot of extreme sports content. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_86DhJsW2w


And Finally


Film and Television is a great way to discover new languages, new cultures, and new ways of seeing the world. By making Netflix more international they are helping to bring more people into contact with more cultures. This is good. 

The Contrast Between French and Swiss News

The Contrast Between French and Swiss News

Byrichard

As I struggled to find a neutral topic to write about I noticed the distinct difference between how the French and the Swiss media are speaking about the fifth wave. The swiss say that it is “pre-occupying” and that it “has won the French speaking part of Switzerland” and “no long term impact on Swiss finances.” Switzerland is not taking the pandemic seriously anymore and reminds me of England. It is denying that there is a problem and taking reactive rather than pro-active measures.


France in contrast, with just 100 cases per 100,000 people are discussing booster shots for the entire population now. There is mention of “a preparation of a strategy to stop the rebound in the number of cases and about how Macron may prepare safety measures, to stop the increase in the number of cases.


I find Switzerland’s approach to the pandemic to be disheartening. I have been reading a book about a Submariner who went from pro-active submarine life to reactive, business life, and he talked about how he tried to change things around, where he could. It’s about anticipating problems, rather than letting them fester until they are impossible to ignore. That is what Switzerland, under the current government is doing.


France has a pro-active approach. We see that a problem is growing and we know that hospitals are going to be overloaded, but we want to get ready to take measures to limit the consequences, and the damage. They are speaking of elaborating strategies that will mitigate the risk, and they are not speaking of just vaccines and boosters. The approach takes a global approach.


Having said all of this, we know that this pandemic, once it gains critical mass, provokes big “waves” of infection. I expect France to go into lock down within a week or two. If this does occur then curfews may come back into play, and driving from one side of France to the other will be complicated. That is why I should leave this weekend, if I want to spend Christmas in Spain. Last year I made excuses for too long, and France, and Spain went into lockdown, and I had no certainty of getting from A to B. This year I want to avoid that. I know that returning to Switzerland will be easier, than going on a “trip”.


At least I will escape crowds and Christmas carols. I will also probably see more sun, and not be as cold. I will also be in a place where people do sometimes wear masks outdoors. You can’t imagine how good it feels to see people being cautious, rather than careless.

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Google Arts & Culture

Byrichard

Google Arts & Culture App

Google Arts & Culture is an app that allows people to look at Arts and culture from around the world easily and intuitively.

This app allows you to learn more about arts and culture based on your current location as well as by topic, art medium and more. With this app, you can look at 360 images of monuments and locations. You can also zoom into artworks. When we were teenagers we studied the history of art. We looked at artworks in books and in documentaries. We then went to Florence and saw some of these artworks in person. We saw Michelangelo’s Statue of David and more. As children in Europe, we went to Pompei, to the Vatican museums and many other locations. When you walk in the Sistine chapel you see this art in context and you see how large it is.

This app, by Google allows you to do the same thing. It allows you to study art from your phone as you commute or as you queue or do other things. In effect it helps to educate and inform us about Art and culture. We are no longer restricted to small pictures in arts books.

Google Arts & Culture Experiments.

Google Arts & Culture Experiments is looking at ways in which to present arts & Culture in new and interesting ways. It uses VR, machine learning and other technology to establish connections between works of art and more. It teaches people about the context of art.

We Wear Culture

Our culture is also reflected in the clothes we wear as well as the wearable technology we use. By wearing event t-shirts we tell people about culture. People wear band t-shirts with tour year and destination information and others wear t-shirts for film festivals, World VR forums and more. In this region of Switzerland you often see people with Paléo t-shirts from the years when they worked as volunteers.

Wearable culture is also reflected through the fitness tracker we wear, whether it’s a smartwatch, a step counter, breathing sensor or more. Google’s WeWearCulture project brings attention to the cultural significance of what we wear as well as provides context.

 

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World’s biggest silent disco was small

Byrichard

The World’s “Biggest silent disco” was made up of only 200 people but they danced for over an hour to all the music they had on their ipods, mobile phones and other mp3 playing devices. It was very amusing.

I arrived over an hour early and scouted out the area seeing where the event would be most likely to take place. As I did this I looked around, seeing which people were likely to participate. I saw two or three groups of friends, then some more. Around 1830 a lot of people were standing around and waiting. Within a few minutes more and more people were coming and you could see them all watching the clock. They saw the counter switch to 18:42 but it took ten to twenty seconds before people started dancing.

My camera was ready and rolling as soon as 18:42 was on the clock. I was listening to my own music and was filming. I saw lot’s of people start dancing and laughing. I saw some individuals synchronise their music, others shared. Some came with only small earphones whilst others came with big headphones. Some of them danced in groups. Overs danced alone and many people took photographs and video.

Conga lines and waves were formed as the individuals listening to their music formed into groups of people who danced the evening away under the arches of Paddington station.

I filmed for fifty seven minutes and I’ve got over 300 individual shots of a variety of people dancing, interviews being carried out(I can’t be bothered with interviews and I didn’t have a mic anyway) and more.

There was a small police presence but they did not intervene until the very end when some musicians started to play. The crowd loved it though.

When I started editing last night was the first glimpse of how surreal the event must have been for the by-standers watching the dancers. I can hear lot’s of squeaking shoes and conversations can be heard loud and clear since there was no loud music. It’s hilarious to see such an event and when it happens again I’ll definitely participate in as many as I can.

I’ve been looking at what people say about it on facebook and there are many people that I recognise from the video footage.

Overall it’s a great bit of random fun at a random time on a random day and it’s great to see.