Oh, and another one linked to my childhood - this time concerning the city I was born in: Dresden.

So the idiots in Dresden managed to get rid off their UNESCO world heritage status. The process to become one is actually pretty costly and takes years until approval. After unbelievable bombings towards the end of WW2, Dresden has been rebuilt over the years with the reconstruction of the "Frauenkirche" in 2005 being the highlight.

Dresden loses its status because of a bridge that's going to cross the river Elbe (not the one pictured), the related construction sites also destroy a nature reserve. And yes, there had been plans for a tunnel below the river.

May I mention that the cathedral of Cologne, where I reside currently (in Cologne, not in the cathedral, of course) is still on the list? Cologne win, Dresden FAIL.

[update: the only other country to lose its UNESCO heritage status ever is the emirate of Oman. They wanted easier access to their oil reserves and therefore drastically decreased the size of a nature reserve in 2007. Now, Germany is not only in line with Iran and China when it comes to internet censorship but also in the good company of countries that destroy their natural beauty and cultural heritage. Germany EPIC FAIL]

picture copyright: dpa/The Local

related tags: dresden unesco world heritage fail Jon Silva

...said civil rights in Germany.

60 years after the second democratic constitution on german soil, the Grundgesetz, was set in effect, a german government is about to pass a bill that will establish internet censorship in Germany.

Netzpolitik.org (web politics), a german-speaking page dealing with human and civil rights in times of global networks has an excellent roundup in english language of what's currently going on here. When I asked my grandparents how Nazi Germany could turn real and how it could happen that Hitler gained all powers in order to bring terror, war and mass murder over huge parts of this world, they told me "We did not know all that.".

Well, today, we "know all that" and we see what is happening, we are taking a stance against cutting off our civil rights. The thing is that the government tends to ignore us. Consider my belongings packed - if Germany is turning into a 4th Reich, I won't be around any longer. Since 9/11, governments in so called western countries have continuedly ignored human and civil rights, re-introduced torture and "brought freedom and democracy" to Iraq, Pakistan and the likes by starting wars.

Sorry if this sounds a bit drastic, but it's so ashaming that people here do not seem to learn from the past. And take it for granted that we signed the biggest petition in Germany's history, too.

Il y a aussi une version française.

Further websites are dealing with the issue, too:
TechDirt
Slashdot
BoingBoing

related tags: civil rights censorship germany

Nah, we haven't been affected by this tornado (but it would serve as a good excuse for lacking posts) last Sunday. But as tornados had been quite rare in this area until now, we thought it was worth a mention.

The tornado lasted only for 10 seconds but caused quite some damage on its way through northern Cologne. Fortunately, nobody has been hurt here.

related tags: tornado cologne köln video

After I just got back from my long Ukraine weekend, I stumbled over this one on Beatportal and felt reminded of my gig in Winnyzja's "Feride Plaza". I did behave way more civilized though, yet, way to go, Steve!

Oh, and for future reference: if Electro House versions of Kate Perry's "I kissed a girl and I liked it" or some Foreigner bootlegs (geez, the originals suck big time already) are popular in your club, please refrain from booking me. Spasibo!

Read the full story on Beatportal

related tags: steve angello paris hilton WMC

NoiseAddicts have shared a way of giving your band or project a name, a title for your album and the artwork. There are three steps, according to NA:

1. Go to Wikipedia and hit “random” and the first article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to "Random Quotations". The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page will be the title of your new album.
3. Go to Flickr and click on “Explore the Last Seven Days”. The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Read the full article, including example cover artworks, on NoiseAddicts.
[Found via Synthopia.com]

related tags: crowdsourcing

Designed as a constant reminder for kids not to use drugs, parents can now record a message on the Sound Advice Project website and render the waveform of the recording into a bracelet with the same shape:

Valentine's day has passed already but you could also record a nice message for your beloved ones when their b-day approaches. Or you show some love for Pesto and have our acoustic logo rendered:

Joel Johnson at BoingBoing notes though that the sentence "Drugs can be fun and informative. And used responsibly can be part of any healthy person's cognitive life" would also fit into the six-seconds recording space on the website.

[Found via BoingBoing]

related tags: waveform bracelet

I just came across this posting on the Logo Designer Blog. It's a YouTube movie "revealing" all those symbols that are meant to be connected to the Illuminati, the New World Order and other ...ummm...shyte.

Please see yourself:



And now, check out this logo - isn't this a graphical representation of the Eyes of Providence, especially the green parts?

Not really. The original design of the Pesto logo illustrates a plate full of Spaghetti al Pesto (Pesto Genovese, to be precise). No conspiracy, no providence, just plain yummy and delicious - quite like the music we release! Wow, some people really seem to have a lot of free time...

related tags: hilarious pesto logo Illuminati

Paidcontent.co.uk has an article that sheds some light on the fact that YouTube is blocking the audio part of some of the posted videos for UK viewers. Patrick Walker, EMEA region head of YouTube said that the Google-owned company would lose money on every music video it serves if they accepted the rates proposed by the PRS, a UK collecting society.

From Paid Content's page:

In its first arrangement with a royalty society, YouTube in 2007 signed a special deal with PRS in which it agreed to pay a flat, advance fee to carry 10 million pieces of music. But the deal has expired and Walker pulled the tracks last night rather than renew at new rates. After PRS highlighted Google’s $5.7 billion Q408 revenue, Walker told me: “We’ve built a service that we’ve invested millions in ... to suggest that, because Google’s a big company, we should just suck it and pay a ridiculous rate is not something that we’re going to stand by.”

Read more on paidcontent.co.uk
Read the PRS entry on Wikipedia
Use the board, young Skywalker!

related tags: youtube uk video

Wired Magazine has an interesting read about cover designs in times of decreasing real estate.

As we are aware of this, we are planning to do a huge PDF file (one metre by one metre print size) in which you can navigate with your standard PDF viewer for one of our upcoming compilation releases. By zooming in, you will find tiny details and some extra features - stuff that will keep you entertained for hours! The "cover" will be a free download, of course.

Read the whole article on Wired.com
Use the board, young Skywalker!

related tags: artwork cover design

This post is especially aimed at german visitors. Nevertheless, the rest of the world should know what's going on here in Germany. I usually try to keep politics off this page, but the latest events made me change my mind regarding this very special case.

As many of you will know, I was born in the eastern part of Germany that was governed by a communist dictatorship until the Berlin wall was teared down in 1989. I was only eight years old when my family escaped from that country for western Germany but my parents made me well aware of the reasons we left our home. We had police officers at home for no reason (or for that reason we wanted to leave or were insisting on our civil rights), we had snitchers living in the same house telling any of our activities to the "Staatssicherheit", the secret service of eastern Germany (comparable to the Gestapo in Nazi Germany). We had our phone connections monitored, mailings opened or "lost", were threatened psychically by those subjects. We finally had our passports confiscated and got new IDs that said we were "stateless" - in other words, our citizenship was taken. Civil rights did not exist in that country and that was the reason why so many people in eastern Germany started huge demonstrations in 1989 - chasing away the dictators by a "soft revolution" and civil disobedience.

Due to my past, I got somewhat allergic to anything or anybody that tries to decrease the amount of civil and/or human rights granted. The first paragraph of the german "Grundgesetz", our constitution, says: "Human dignity is inviolable". The constitution, similar to the "Bill Of Rights" in the USA or other constitutions in your respective country grants this right among many more to you, the citizen of your country. Among those rights granted, you'll also find your right to have privacy and freedom of speech. Without going too much into detail, I will supply you with a couple of links covering the background of data retention below and why it means a severe loss of civil rights.

Data retention on wikipedia.org
A short summary on vorratsdatenspeicherung.de (in english, also available in german, french and italian)

Today, the german parliament accepted a draft bill regarding data retention. They say it's meant to fight terrorism (yeah right - the draft bill also states the use for "illegal" filesharing) but it reaches way far: whistleblowers reporting to journalists will be in danger. That creates an atmosphere of FUD (fear, uncertainty & danger). Imagine you were a witness of how a politician corrupted and have proof - you'd tell a newspaper (media being considered the fourth force in a democratic system). Well, think twice - they'll know who and where you are as they saved your connection and the place you made the call from.

You call me paranoid? Check this out: in 1919, there was a population census in Germany. The government then was a democratic one and they also asked you for your religious views. Some of the german citizens were Jews and checked the respective box - which turned into a tragedy for millions after 1933.

I clearly want to state that ANY decrease of human and civil rights is a desaster. And no, I have nothing to hide but I insist on my civil rights! If possible terrorists wanted to destroy the values of the so-called western world, they were successful - with the help from our politicians. This is just a beginning, what might be next? If we keep on accepting that our basic rights, the human rights people once died for, are constantly taken away from us, we don't have to complain later.

That's the reason you should make yourself heard: write to your representative, attend demonstrations, make the people around you aware of what's happening! We germans already had a generation that said "We did not know that"! If you want to see worst-case scenarios, watch the film "Brazil". And finally, let me quote Benjamin Franklin:

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

I hope you excuse me being so emotional and upset.

Much love & let freedom ring!
Jon Silva aka Jost Gerischer

Or "web 2.0" or another buzzword of your choice?

Well, we've just been mashed up (sounds like you just got punk'd, no?) or at least just discovered it happened. In a truly global world, Ehsan, a DJ from Canada took Babak Shayan's "Azadi" and made his own remix. Check it out here.

If you were about to do a mashup with some Pesto stuff, which one would you choose? Leave a comment (including a link to your mashup MP3).

[update: and yes, Ehsan bought it on beatport.com - good boy!]

There must be a reason for we are posting the logo of another label here on the Pesto web pages. What reason could that be?

Did anybody say something was going on behind the scenes? Will Pesto be closed down, shortly after the digital rebirth? Will it be renamed to traxx? If so, why would we?

Hmmm...expand your mind. More details to follow soon!

Hah! Got you!

So you were looking for Babak Shayan nude? We're sorry to disappoint you! But...we have some footage on Babak Shayan. Check it out here:

Babak Shayan - Azadi (Pesto005)

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Happy holidays from Pesto Music! ;)

related tags: pesto 005