The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Now that I've finished all of my exams for 2014 and managed to get all of my christmas shopping done, I'm back again. Even though it's a bit late to still put it on your christmas wish list, I'm going to tell you something about a great book today. It's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I've wanted to read that book for years now, but only actually did, after one of the people I live with had told me about how good it is. And it actually is! 

What is the book about?

The book tells the story of 15-year-old Christopher Booth, who suffers from Asperger Syndrom. He finds his neighbour's dog stabbed with a garden fork one night and decides to find the murderer. The only problem is that his father does not like him investigating. But there's got to be a way for Christopher to figure out who committed the murder anyways, hasn't there? I'm not going to tell you more about the plot. If you want to find out who killed the dog and what big family secret Christopher is going to unveil, you'll have to read it yourself!

What is Asperger Syndrome?

Asperger syndrome is a form of an autism spectrum disorder. It is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, alongside restricted and repetitive of behaviours and interests. Affected people have trouble understanding other people's emotions and feelings. They show limited empathy for their peers and often are clumsy – not only physically but also with their choice of words. In contrast to other autism spectrum disorders, people affected by Asperger's have a relative high level of linguistic and cognitive development. They do not have as much trouble with speaking and their ability to think is basically on the same level as the one of any other person. They cannot comprehend their own or other other people's feelings whatsoever. 

Why did I like the book?

I absolutely enjoyed reading the book. It's been a while since I last finished a book that quickly. The story is told from Christopher's perspective, which makes it really engaging and refreshing to read. Mark Haddon also has a genuinely pleasant writing style and the whole story just flows nicely.

The only thing that put me a bit off in the beginning was the numbering of chapters. The first chapter is named "2" and I only was sure I didn't skip a chapter after I saw that the following chapters were 3, 5, 7 and 11. They're all named after prim numbers and that really confused me at first.

Another benefit of the book is the authors description of Christopher. I just feel like he paints a good picture of a person suffering from Asperger's. His description seemed really fitting, even though honestly, I can't really judge anything about it. My experience with people on the spectrum is next to nil. Nonetheless, there was nothing that made me think: "That's not likely at all!"

All in all, the book is worth reading and every minute and euro you spend on it is well invested. If you're looking for a detective novel with a twist or just a new and refreshing story The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is the right choice for you.

Lastly, for all the people living in Graz: In January 2015 there are going to be several performances of "Supergute Tage oder Die Wunderbare Welt Des Christopher Boone" in the Next Liberty. Just in case you are interested!

This Boy Is On Fire

Today I'm going to introduce one of my favourite Youtubers to you. I'm sure you already know him, but I'm going to do it anyways. So here's some facts about danisnotonfire.

Dan Howell (left) and Phil Lester

Who is the person behind danisnotonfire?

Daniel James Howell, Dan Howell for short, is a popular English Youtuber and BBC Radio 1 presenter. In his videos, which he uploads on his personal channel danisnotonfire, he is basically talking about his life, his experiences and rants about things that upset him.

Dan was born on the 11th of June 1991 in Berkshire, England. Currently he shares a flat in London with his best friend Phil Lester, who is also a Youtuber. Dan joined Youtube in 2006, but only started to make videos actively in 2009, when he was persuaded by some of his friends. Ever since then danisnotonfire reached more than 4 million subscribers and over 270 million views.

Dan also has a second channel called danisnotinteresting, which he rarely uses and collaborates with Phil on their shared Youtube channel "The Super Amazing Project" from time to time. A few months ago they also started another channel called  DanAndPhilGAMES where they talk about video games.

In 2010, Dan started to frequent the University of Manchester to study law, but he dropped out after a year in order to become a professional vlogger.

As of January 2013, Dan and Phil have their own radio request show on BBC Radio 1, which airs every Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00pm.

In May 2013 they were voted UK's favourite Radio Presenters and winners of the Sony Golden Headphones Award for The Request Show with Dan and Phil.

Above: Cringe Attack by danisnotonfire

What makes danisnotonfire so popular?

He has no shame.

Well maybe, but seriously: I think there's many reasons why Dan has got this popular. He's funny and blunt and he doesn't look half-bad. 'Cause let's be real here, if he wasn't good-looking in some way, people would have quite a different opinion of him. Aside from that, I think what really makes him so popular is the topics he is talking about. People can relate to him. He rants about things, most people will think are annoying as well. He talks about topics that just make people think, "I know that feeling!". Yet, they wouldn't really talk about it themselves. Hearing him talk about it kind of soothes you as suddenly you know you're not the only one who feels totally awkward and socially inept sometimes. Or he just talks about fandom stuff. It's something that I feel many people – especially guys – would not talk about that openly while still actually being amusing. It makes him seem really down to earth.

...and maybe, he just makes himself look so stupid, that you can't help but feel better about yourself.

Below, you can find probably his most popular video with more than 4 million view. It's called "I Will Go Down With This Ship".

If you want to see more of his stuff, there's some links to his social media below.
Here's a link to his Youtube channel.
Here's a link to his Tumblr.
Here's a link to his Instagram. 

Have a great evening! See you!

Advertising Done Right

I just came across an ad and I thought it was one of the best commercials I have ever seen. It's the Sainsbury's 2014 Christmas Ad and it's really worth watching. Check it out below!

The best thing about it: It's based off of a true incident. You've probably already heart about the Christmas Truce of 1914 and if not, I'm going to tell you what happened.

On Christmas Eve in 1914, the first Christmas Eve of World War I, in France British and German soldiers lay in their trenches. It was freezing cold and it started to snow. Suddenly, the Germans started singing "Stille Nacht" and the Brits joint in. They sang christmas carols together. 

After a while, they even started to slowly approach each other. After one single soldier was brave enough to take the first step, all the other soldiers moved into No Man's Land as well. They exchanged christmas greetings, traded gifts like chocolate, newspapers, postcards and alcohol – not really allowed but nobody would have to know and they were already bonding with the enemy – and even had a soccer match. All of that while most of them barely understood let alone spoke the "enemy's" language.

When the generals heard of that, they had to do something. They made the soldiers resume the fighting. The recruits, however, grew so close that even though did start the shooting again but they aimed at the sky.

The Christmas Truce was never repeated. Future attempts to stop the fire on holidays were thwarted by the official's treats of disciplinary action. 


There is also a song about The Christmas Truce. It's called "Christmas On The Trenches" and it's by John McCutcheon. Here's a link to the lyrics and I put a video of John McDermott singing it below.

Happy early start of advent and have a great weekend!

"Fire is Catching!

...If we burn, you burn with us!"
-Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

If you opened up one of your social media accounts recently, chances are you saw something about one of the many protest and riots happening. There are so many lately, that you could easily loose track of them. So I decided to try and make a short summary of what gets people on the streets currently.

#Ferguson

Protest flared again at the beginning of this week after it went public that Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot 18 years old, black and unarmed Michael Brown back in August, will not be indicted.

The fact that the decision was made by a St Louis County grand jury, consisting of 9 Caucasian members and 3 African-American members, fueled the protestors' outrage even more. There have been various protests and clashes with the police for the last few days in Ferguson right after the announcement by St. Louis County prosecutor, Robert P. McCulloch. The protest, however, did not restrict to Ferguson. In many other American cities – including New York and Los Angeles – people took to the street as well.

Source: www.nytimes.com/

#Mexico

After the disappearance of 43 male students on September 26th, 2014 there have already been many protest throughout Mexico. The students are believed to have been kidnapped by corrupt police members and handed over to one of Mexico's many criminal gangs. The drug gang probably killed and burned them in a pyre of wood and tires.

The angry citizens want President Enrique Peña Nieto to resign, since the whole case shows the corruption of the country. Especially since the mayor of Iguala, where the students went missing, is alleged to have had ties to said drug gang since he assumed office.

Last Thursday more protests fell on the same date as celebration day for the 1910-17 Revolution and papers have already called the protests the new Mexican revolution.

Source:america.aljazeera.com

#London

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...

On November 5th 2014, Guy Fawkes Day, thousands of activists and protestors gathered in London to join the annual Million Mask March in London. The protestors including Russell Brand marched through the city, many of them wearing Guy Fawkes masks. They started at the Parliament Square and made their way towards other locations such as Buckingham Palace and BBC's central studios.

The police presence was enormous. At least five people were arrested during a standoff with the police, but all in all the march went quite peacefully.

Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk

#Hong Kong

Yesterday, on November 26th, 2014, parts of the streets in Hong Kong were cleared by authorities. The streets have been blocked by thousands of protestors for the last two months, when the "Umbrella Movement" started.

It all started back in September when Beijing refused to allow universal suffrage* in 2017 in Hong Kong. The decision was followed by groups of activists camping outside the Hong Kong Government headquarters and masses of demonstrators blocking the main roads. Their demand: reform the democracy.

The protests have been on-going for the past two months. They have, however, been loosing steam. Yesterdays clearance and the arrests of about 100 people including student leader Joshua Wong is believed to reinvigorate.

*universal suffrage: every adult is allowed to vote

Source: www.bloomberg.com

#France

Last month there have been protests against the building of a controversial dam near Toulouse. The dam should be built on the cost of 40ha of forest and will mainly benefit some industrial farmers.

During a protest on the 25th of October one of the activists, Remi Fraisse, was killed. The 21-year-old was hit by a so-callled 'offensive grenade' by the police and died immediately. His death fueled the civil unrest even more. In the following days numerous protests and marches took place and the civil unrest continues on.

I hope this could give you a better overview of what's going on in the world right now. See you soon!