MPJ

Have you ever thought about first ever practicing team sport on a grand scale? Perhaps, like mine, your first thought could be some competition within ancient Olympic games, right? Well, no, the old Greeks didn't like team sports at all; instead, their first athletes competed within what we consider today as individual sports or disciplines. Boxing, racing, running, jumping, wrestling, throwing, and similar individual competitions or fighting. However, on the other end of the world, and perhaps at more or less the same time, ancient Chinese practiced sport competition just the same, and during the Han Dynasty around 3rd century BC, it was documented a game that resembles very much modern football or soccer, if you will. It was called Tsu'Chu with kicking the ball in the field in the team effort and with the goal of putting the ball in the net. But perhaps millennium before Tsu'Chu, on the third ancient continent, the origin of another modern sport was invented first, and i...

Some years are more memorable than others, and there's no doubt that this is one of those subjective feelings if we are looking at the past solar cycle from an individual point of view. Some are forgettable and disappointing by using the same perspective. If I had to judge about 2016, I would say it was one of those forgettable ones. Perhaps not really because of what happened badly or poorly during the past twelve months but rather of what didn't happen again. Perhaps it was me who once again made a mistake and had higher expectations from humanity and ended in a sort of letdown once more. Obama & Medvedev at Ray's Hell Burger in 2010 Actually, if we want to get into disappointment fast, it's easy; the only thing we need to do is to have a glimpse or two of worldwide politics and worldwide affairs. But it wasn't always like that. Every now and again we get ourselves into the illusion that things can be perfect, or better to say the least. Ever since Ba...

Original post date: August 2011, Update: June 2016 Today, after so-called #brexit or "United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union", I thought it would be nice time to revive one of my old posts related to the European Union dated five years ago. I wanted to put my own thoughts to the test and see if anything changed within my political views and EU after half a decade... and just like I thought in the first place, I couldn't find anything more to say. So here they are—the same thoughts from before, only slightly enhanced with new images and small syntax corrections. --- Original post August 2011 ----- I read today a very interesting Big Think article regarding the European Union and the future of this big political project ( Europe Moves Towards Unitary Statehood ) , and I can't resist not to post a couple of thoughts about it. After all, I am living in Europe, geographically and politically speaking, and it would be at least a little strange to not have ...

I remember that scene from the movie "The Blues Brothers" with Jake and Elwood hiding from who-knows-who in the super tiny apartment next to skytrain or railway tracks, shaking every now and again and every time when a train is passing by the neighborhood. I always felt sympathy for all those people who are actually living next to those high trafficking high or rail ways with heavy tremors in the air in form of high decibels of various noises all around them. Guess what? Our own neighborhood is now getting similar feeling. Actually, similar is understatement. It is way worse. The new tracks are placed just couple of dozens of meters above our house. In recent months and years, the local airport are getting more and more traffic and the runway position is actually crossing our street almost to the single angle. I couldn't do much about it except to took the camera as soon as I heard the noise and 'shot' their underbellies. So here are couple of those taken in previ...