Knuths Lost & Found January

 

Another monthly review from Knuth. This time he is concerned that today there has to be an achievement behind everything. Simply running or eating is no longer possible today. In the end, kilometers and nutritional values have to be right. For all those who simply want to live. In addition again many culture Tipps. Find out which books, music and films Knuth liked in January.

#PerformanceMarketing

January 2022 – 

It is cold and dark. I was doing my morning run and thinking about what I could write here on this blog this month. Suddenly, a runner overtook me, checking his watch regularly. My steps slowed down. That's when a story flashed through my mind that was a few years ago.

The buffet was rich. No question, the hosts had given it their all. While I was filling up my plate, I struck up a conversation with a man. Classic party talk. With our plates, we sat down at a table and continued chatting.

"So what do you do for exercise?" he asked me.

"I run a little," I replied.

He wanted to know more specifically, "How many miles?"

"No idea? Sometimes more sometimes less." In fact, I didn't know.

Disappointment spread across his face. "Aren't you interested in how many miles you run?" The question sounded more like an accusation.

I took a breath, but he didn't even wait for my answer and babbled away. "For example, I keep an app with a running journal!"

His iPhone was now dancing in front of my nose. On the screen were colorful charts and graphs. "It's all my performance data, so I can analyze exactly how I'm performing." Looking at the app, his pupils enlarged. He smiled with satisfaction. The talk ended with lots of training tips. It was important, he said, to get more miles in. Because running, would be medicine and that was scientifically proven, he stressed. It would not only be good for my health, I would also be more successful in life. I nodded. He remained silent and treated us both to refreshments.

While my palate was busy unraveling the spices in the kale dim sum, I asked myself the question: why does there have to be an achievement behind everything today? I had noticed that more and more people have extended the performance principle into almost all areas of life. Everywhere there has to be a measurable and visible success at the end. Simply running is apparently no longer enough.

I am just a Fiat

Today, performance means everything: A photo on Instagram needs a lot of likes, otherwise it's worth nothing. Your scale in the bathroom is only satisfied with you when, in addition to your ideal weight, you have also achieved the perfect distribution of muscle mass. You have to come at least five times for good sex to be considered good sex. Children's birthday parties must have the quality of major events a la Disney World, only then are parents and children satisfied. Scientists must publish as many papers as possible if they want to remain relevant. Whether their work is important or not is irrelevant. Today, a food that merely fills you up is about as bad as standing naked in the cold rain. It absolutely has to be a superfood that offers many additional benefits.

Life has become a car-card quartet. As kids, we played it. The cards with the highest performance values won. The Ferrari card was the super trump card. Whoever had it was the winner. Today, everyone wants to be a Ferrari. Being a Fiat is no longer enough. If you want to survive in the competition, you have to have yourself and your world measured and controlled. We stare at our fitness bracelets, count steps and deep sleep phases. And if that's not enough, we also hire a coach. One who makes sure we get a six-pack and one who lifts our soul to the next level, for example, to become more resilient. Equipped like this, we should be able to make it to the winner's podium. Far from it, the carrot, is hung a little higher each time. You always have the feeling that you are last. Your performance will never be enough.

I gulped down the kale dim sum. It tasted good to me. I asked the hostess how she came up with the kale idea? "Oh you know Knuth, always only with fried potatoes and cooked sausages was too simple and too fat for me. But kale works better, too! It's a super antioxidant bomb. I even make smothies with it. If you drink it regularly, you'll notice it in your skin!" Then she recommended a red wine that I should definitely try because it had the highest score in all the wine guides.

At the time, I thought, just enjoying it really probably doesn't work anymore. The wind blew in my face. It began to dawn. Slowly I trotted on. Other runners ran past me. I am just a Fiat.

 

***

Strange January. Endlessly long. Endlessly gray. Somehow I have the feeling that everyone is waiting to finally recover so that they are through with the plague. They want to end this exceptional situation for themselves. With that comes the hope of getting back to normal. I can understand that, but I think it's a risky attitude. But things are supposed to get better. The Chinese New Year begins in February. Maybe the tiger year will bring you good luck. I would be happy. Here I have a few more tips for you. Have fun.

 


 

The Power of the Dog

 

Dear Benedict Cumberbatch fans, you have to be brave now. In "The Power of the Dog", the English actor plays the solitary Phil and is really mean. Together with his brother George (Jesse Plemons), they run a cattle ranch on the endless prairie. Phil's ideal and hard man's world is shaken when his brother marries Rose (Kirsten Dunst). Phil is especially fascinated by their shy son Peter, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee - by the way, why the fashion crowd hasn't discovered him yet and gone into wow stardom is beyond me, the guy has a really cool style in this movie. What a drama by Jan Campion (The Piano) and Mr. Cumberbatch as the sourpuss should finally get an Oscar.

The Power of the Dog , verfügbar auf Netflix

 


 

Tenderbar

 

I spent many afternoons of my childhood in Chinese restaurants. My father was a cook. So it was not unusual for me to sit at the counter and do my homework. I loved it. My dull school days were saved when my father's friends showed up. They were guys in fat carts who always had something going on. I always think of those days when I take the book "Tenderbar" by J. R. Moehringer off my shelf. There he describes his childhood, which was especially influenced by "Dickens". There in the bar he met lots of weird guys. "Every time the men ran by, they left a cloud of smell. Beer. Aftershave. Leather. Tobacco. Hair tonic. I inhaled deeply, imprinted the aroma deeply..." I felt the same way. Now, as I write these lines, I need to re-read a few chapters from it. The book was just published by George Clooney mit Ben Affleck  made into a film. I haven't seen the movie, but the book goes down like a good whiskey and it warms you from the inside. Cheers.

 

Tenderbar  – J.R Moehringer, 464 Seiten, Fischer 

 


 

Get Back

 

Ringo Star and George Harrison yawn. Tiredly, they watch as Paul McCartney plays the first bars of "Get Back" on the guitar. John Lennon joins them later. He has missed out. It's early 1969 and we are eyewitnesses to the Beatles' album "Let It Be" being produced. A film crew had been watching the Fab Four behind the scenes. For many fans, the record is a document of failure, because the four were sick of each other. Each went his own artistic way in the meantime. The album itself was not released until a year later. Director Peter Jackson (The Hobbit) sifted through the partially unreleased material and edited it into a documentary series. I was captivated. I can only recommend the documentary and the record. Since then, "I' got a Feeling" has been playing in my kitchen.

Get Back – available on Disney Plus, Let it Be on Apple Music and Spotify

 


 

Vigil

 

TV thriller in Germany like this: Star architect husband has affair with au pair and kills her. Yoga start-up wife has doubts. Commissioner with a lot of self-loathing falls in love with wife. Lots of tracking shots in bungalows with white furnishings. Plus long sweaty dialogues. Last scene, the perpetrator howls in his SUV, turns up a Udo Lindenberg song loudly and drives over a cliff. The wife falls into the arms of the inspector. Cut. TV crime thriller in England like this: a traumatized policewoman is supposed to solve a murder on a Royal Navy nuclear submarine. She has to go under the sea because the boat is on a secret mission. The murder victim is a whistleblower. Crew and officers hated the man. Crew and officers also hate the policewoman. No cooperation. Everyone against everyone. Lies. Secrets. Drugs. Plus a broken reactor. And everything damn close. Crew, officers, Admiralty, Russians, Americans, peace activists, local politicians, Downing Street all have a motive. More I reveal about Vigil  not. Very exciting. Over and out.

 

Vigil  - ARTE Mediathek online only until 18.02. It's worth missing out on "Tatort" twice.

 


 

Heaven

 

"As long as there was no school, I didn't have to put up with anyone's stares; my life resembled the quiet existence of a piece of furniture. Being reflected in no one's eyes was tremendously comforting," says the first-person narrator, who is happy when he doesn't have to go to school because he is tormented by his classmates there. Then he befriends his classmate Kojima, who is also bullied because she stopped washing herself. A story about a society that can't stand outsiders. I felt like I found a diary I was secretly reading. Very intimate and insightful. Especially irritating to me how casually and unexcited the first-person narrator tells his story.

Heaven – Mieko Kawakami, 192 Seiten Dumont

 

***

Thank you for taking some time and reading my post. I hope that I could bring you to other thoughts. Stay well! We will see each other again in March. Maybe there will be a little more spring by then. See you soon!

 


 

Knuth Kung Shing Stein is a founding member of SoSUE and supports other brands. He himself describes his work as "something with media". The Hamburg native would love to move to a mountain with a beach. Learn more about Knuth on his website Collideor and Scope.

 


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  • love

    I love knuth

  • Great recommendations


    Benedict Cumberbatch was superb in The Power of the Dog. Very unexpected but I was hooked. I guess I can call myself a Cumberbitch now.
    Thanks for the book recommendation. I’ll check it out.
    Now off to go on my jog to “keep up with the Joneses”?

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