Gadhafi’s Translator: “I Just Can’t Take It Anymore”

Posted on 25. Sep, 2009 by admin in Around the Planet

Now, way back in 2007, we here at Film@11 had an opportunity to go to Libya. We met a Gadhafi (son Saif), saw some ruins, drank some Tunesian wine and tried to understand if a massive environmental development project was for real or not. (Answer: not.)

As our arrival coincided with the 38th anniversary of the rule of Gadhafi (leader Moammar), we keep up with dispatches about the place, including attempting to listen to/read the speech/rant that Gadhafi gave on Wednesday at the United Nations. We weren’t the only ones struggling–Gadhafi’s own translator collapsed at the 75-minute mark (out of 95 minutes), saying, “I just can’t take it anymore“.

Going that green mile… to the brothel

Posted on 25. Sep, 2009 by admin in A Minute of Your Time

So every once in a while you get a story that has you calling whorehouses all around the world and asking what they’re doing about global warming.

This happened to me when I happened upon a short article about the Maison d’Envie brothel in Berlin. To help combat the recesion, the place was giving 10 percent “environmental” discounts for patrons who arrived on bicycle. I called up the place to see if it was working, if people were actually… doing it. The owner Thomas Goetz assured me it was working beautifully. Traffic was falling and customers were rising.

In my research, I made a lot of interesting discoveries. Brothels today have user-friendly web sites just like everyone else; they have helpful discussion boards letting you know which girls are good and why; and they often have the most fascinating phone numbers.

Dennis Hof, who owns the “World Famous Bunny Ranch” in Nevada, took my call directly. He spouted off a whole list of environmental deals: “Arrive in hybird and get a free Bunnyranch shirt & free drinks. Bring your sex toys and girls clothes in a paper bag and receive free environmentally correct lube,” etc. And he was a very nice guy. He even graciously invited me to join him on a weekend trip with six blond women at Lake Tahoe. Alas, I had to put work first.

But the most eye-opening moment came when I called the Asmara private house in Amsterdam and spoke to a sex worker there. My interviewee broke out in riotous laughter. She told me she’d never heard something so ridiculous in her life as eco-prostitution. And didn’t I know that everyone rode bicycles in Amsterdam?

To see just how ridiculous she found it, watch our full story on eco-prostitution in this episode of A Minute of Your Time.

- Ivan Weiss