Showing posts with label psychological. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychological. Show all posts

27 July 2010

Real men wear pink











On my moaning about how much effort is needed to meet up someone with a busy schedule in London, I have received a simple explanation this morning: "Better to be busy than a lonely ship at the bottom of the ocean". Psychological explanations are always so justified, that it simply appears inappropriate to fight it.
I do not agree 'busy' City people, scared to rush off home from work without drinks are really less lonely than the ones in front of their TVs or walking dogs in the parks. This normative of showing the happy face even after office hours seems so male to me. Honestly, I thought that metropolis is the best place for living through your impulses or just crying when you feel like crying.

As for the pink shirts, that might have been initially thought to be a nice casual insignia to break the rules, or stood for non-conformist signifier - I am amazed how such things that were supposed to be carefree - started being induced into torment for the ambitious individuals, craving for some sort of personal recognition. Even the recession asks for more standing out from the crowd, but conformity is what keeps the wheel turning, right? Just listen to the new gay jokes on the coalition.

Maybe a beer belly becomes fashionable soon.
Soft is the new tough
. Photo stocks know it all.

23 July 2010

Nice to meet you?


Milka Forcan and Miodrag Miskovic


Milka Forcan, Josep Lloveras and Olli Rehn


Project for Belgrade Danube Waterfront by Daniel Liebeskind, space property of Port Belgrade




My friend's, Branko Belacevic's, witty observation of what exactly is going on in Belgrade Danube Waterfont project


Renderings of project for Varsavska Street, Zagreb


Tomo Horvatincic, the investor of the project in Varsavska Street


Peaceful protests in Varsavska Street, Zagreb

Business women from Serbia, Milka Forcan has stirred up the public opinions lately with the news of her break up over the shareholdings of Delta holding company with her 20-year-old business partner Miroslav Miškovic, absolute monopolist on Serbian financial market. She states that it was not an easy decision, having emotions about the place she had also invested in it during her lifetime. Oops, looks like there is a formula to mix business and pleasure here?

It is important to know the power position of this woman in the international affairs, as she reported she will continue her career in lobbying, after she had proved to be an important player in Serbian business' contribution to EU integration; discussing these issues, for example, with Olli Rehn and Josep Lloveras. In this region, there is a popular pattern of direct ascribing political potential to the financially successful individuals. I don't know if I support this woman for being such a strong opponent to Mišković, in the male dominated state, or just dislike her, as it looks like they have quite the same aims and objectives. I wonder if the monopoly of Miskovic's emporium has helped her be seen as AAA woman of the region- attractive, actual, active.

Knowing that same Delta's first man was financing political parties, and has been involved in criminal activities of illegal privatization of Port of Belgrade, even Daniel Liebeskind could not resist his power, and created this flashy project, promising a bright future for the Belgrade waterfront.

In addition, talking about the powerful connections of state and the business, and politics of public space, this is already late information, but 140 citizens were arrested last week in Zagreb, protesting non/violently over the long, similar, dispute of turning the square in the centre of the city into a shopping mall and closing the pedestrian paths.

Are politics or space of the countries with EU accession ambition in need for more lobbyists?

11 July 2010

Death in June





Blackfriars Bridge, at the edge of the City, London


1 Poultry, London - one of the mortal leap's location






Do you remember this man?

The case of Roberto Calvi's murder has been never resolved, although his close relations to Vatican proved to be linked to it, even if partly. Yet, waves of bankers' suicides date long before Italian 'God's banker' has been found hanged on London's Blackfriars bridge in 1982.

Evidently, recent frequent reports on bankers from around the world committing suicides has some overlapping historical facts with Black Thursday in 1929 crash. The statistics show that the monetary crisis had impact on the growing numbers of suicides among financial sector employees. Despite the fact that only after the crisis settles down, the true mortal impact can be indicated, there is no way to measure the true vulnerability of the successful individuals and even untouchable businessmen like HSBC's Christen Schnor, friend of Danish royal family. Although, back in 1929, along with the Wall Street brokers literally leaping through hotel windows, big number of people affected were from other service sectors, too. These personal tragedies maybe are not so personal, after all, although they tend to be represented as such in media.We can have a look on our public health and the demands that financial sector sets as a normative of success, productivity, growth and ask ourselves:

How many times does an action have to be repeated in order to learn mistakes from it?