Alatriste – quotes

Based on the series of novels by Arturo Pérez-Reverte “Las Aventuras del Capitán Alatriste”, directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, film tells a story of Captain Alatriste (Viggo Mortensen), a heroic figure from the Spain’s 17th century imperial wars.

My favourite quotes:

• No era el hombre más honesto, ni el más piadoso, pero era un hombre valiente. Se llamaba Diego Alatriste.
• Flandes es el infierno.
• Todos amamos una vez

Leszek Czarnecki o biznesie / on business

Leszek Czarnecki is one of the most successful polish businessmen, the ower of Getin Holding S.A. (banking, leasing, insurance). 721st on the 2010 list of the richest people. His passion is diving. He holds a world record for cave diving (17 km; in Yukatan, Mexico).

And that's what he said asked about personality features which help in running business:

Biznes wymaga kreatywności, tak samo jak każdy inny rodzaj sztuki. Potrzebna jest ogromna ciekawość świata, umiejętność syntetycznego patrzenia na rzeczywistość – jaki jest rynek i co można z nim zrobić, a z drugiej strony myślenia analitycznego, jak konkretnie wytworzyć produkt czy usługę. Potrzebne są tez umiejętności interpersonalne – biznes robi się z ludźmi. Przedsiębiorca musi być jak sportowiec: konsekwentny, cierpliwy i mający zaufanie do siebie. Bo pierwsze zawody na ogół się przegrywa i podobnie jest w biznesie. Trzeba mieć także intuicje.

Sukces w genach, Newsweek Polska, 2010/01/24, s. 44

Business requires creativity, just like any other type of art. What is also needed is an enormous world-curiosity, the ability of synthetic approach towards reality - what is the market like and what you can do with it; on the other hand – analytical thinking: how the product or a service should be produced/delivered. What is also needed are interpersonal skills – you do business with people. The entrepreneur must be like a sportsman: a consistent, patient and having confidence in himself. For normally you lose the first competition and the same is true in business. You also must have intuitions.

Kate Summerscale, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House - quotes

“The Metropolitan Police, the first such force in the country, was eight years old [in 1837 when Whicher joind it]. London had got so big, so fluid, so mysterious to itself that in 1829 its inhabitants had, reluctantly [police was seen as abuse of civil liberties], accepted the need for a disciplined body of men to patrol the streets.” (p. 45)

“A defendant was not allowed to give evidence at his or her own trial until 1898.” (p. 122)

„Nothing in the world is hidden for ever,” wrote Wilkie Collins in No Name (1862). “Sand turns traitor, and betrays the footstep that has passed over it; water gives back to the tell-tale surface the body that has been drowned… Hate breaks its prison-secrecy in the thoughts, through the doorway of the eyes… Look where we will, the inevitable law of revelation is one of the laws of nature: the lasting preservation of a secret is a miracle which the world has never yet seen.” (p. 225)

“The term red hering – something that puts bloodhounds off the scent – was not used to mean “pseudo clue” until 1884.” (p. 268)

Animated History of Poland

Created by an Oscar-nominated Polish director Tomasz Bagiński, Animated History of Poland, is an extremely well done film presenting 1000 years of the Polish history. The task was not an easy one... Rich in dramatic events, Polish history is not only difficult to summarize, but also hard to understand for everybody else then Poles themselves (sometimes I have the feeling that even they don't fully catch all its complex details).

Anyway, Animated History of Poland is a terrific animation. Its aim is rather to make people curious about the heroic, but tragic fate of Polish nation, because understand it without having any background knowledge is not something you can do during a lunch break.

Pay attention to the breathtaking soundtrack composed by Adam Skorupa. It matches perfectly the visual side of the film and creates amazing atmosphere.

The film has been made for the Polish Pavilon at Shanghai's 2010 EXPO.

Spiderman quotes

I watched again (after a few years) the Spiderman and that's what's left:
With great power comes great responsibility
I missed the point where this is my problem