CURRENT MISSION

World domination. What else?

ABOUT ME

There's no point denying it - I'm a geeky engineer. I read technical manuals in bed, and visit industrial facilities when on vacation. I enjoy diagrams better than poetry, and developed a classification scheme to keep track of my personal relationships (if you manage to get through my profile, you'll probably be in class IIB).

That said, I'm still very much an extroverted social animal -ENTP if you believe in Jungian archetypes- and love a good chat on almost any topic as long as I'm allowed to play devil's advocate. Not one for small talk, when meeting new people I quickly try to find a common ground where we can have meaningful discussions or, at least, useful exchanges of information. To quote Depeche Mode, I'm always willing to learn if you've got something to teach.

My other major trait is that of an organiser: I like planning in advance, and I'm fond of (and experienced in) running events and communities. I'm still quite flexible and love doing things in the spur of the moment, but there always has to be a backup plan... just in case.

And when I've had a bit to drink, well, let's just say common sense goes out the window ;-)

PHILOSOPHY

Your personal freedom ends where mine begins. Beyond that limit, do what you want shall be the whole of the law.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Simply put - because a city is nothing without its citizens.

Interests

As a mechanical engineer I'm fascinated by big machines: cars, aircraft and especially ships and submarines. Together with travel destinations, these form the main subject of my (very) amateur photography, a sample of which you can see on my website: http://www.sainzmartinez.com

Then there's cinema: as well as devouring movies, sci-fi in particular, I'm very interested in the filmmaking process and the film industry, and help organise a biannual Spanish & Portuguese film festival here in the Netherlands.

Other than that, I enjoy reading about military history and doctrine, especially as regards the ethical and legal aspects of armed conflict. It is fascinating to observe human nature at its deepest and darkest, at the jagged boundary between morality and ruthless rationality. The stories surrounding the Nüremberg and Srebrenica trials, for instance, are breathtaking.

Finally, games of all kinds (dice, cards, role-playing, computer...) tend to take up what little spare time I have left after all the above.

• animals
• arts
• poetry
• photography
• film making
• festivals
• cooking
• running
• modeling
• drinking
• electronics
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• painting
• track and field
• anthropology
• economics
• engineering
• history
• law
• physics

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies
CLASSIC: Casablanca (1942), The Godfather (1972), A Clockwork Orange (1971)
MODERN: The Departed (2006), Watchmen (2009), The Dark Knight (2008)
EPIC: Conan the Barbarian (1982), Aliens (1986), Ran (1985)
ANTI-EPIC: Apocalypse Now (1979), Das Boot (1981), The Beast of War (1988)
TO SMILE: Top Gun (1986), Pulp Fiction (1994), Casino Royale (2006)
TO LAUGH: The Quest for the Holy Grail (1975), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
TO THINK: Gattaca (1997), The Prestige (2006), Mr.Nobody (2009)

Books
FICTION: Dune, The Hunt for Red October, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Heart of Darkness, Good Omens, Lord of the Rings, Neuromancer, Foundation, Ender's Game, When Gravity Fails, Sin Noticias de Gurb
NON-FICTION: The Prince (Machiavelli), The Art of War (Sun Tzu), Pasajes de la Guerra Revolucionaria (Che Guevara), On Thermonuclear War (Herman Kahn), The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (Glasstone & Dolan), The German Raider Atlantis (Kpt.Bernhard Rogge), all manner of technical manuals
COMIC & MANGA: Watchmen, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police, Dark Knight Returns, Mot, Maus, The Red Star, Sin City

Music
ROCK: MUSE, Queen, AC/DC
POP: Mika, Anouk, ABBA
ELECTRONIC: The Cure, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan
INDUSTRIAL: Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, Pain
METAL: Dio, Iron Maiden, Sabaton
SPANISH: Héroes del Silencio, Aviador Dro, Radio Futura

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Surely what's amazing to me is mundane to you?

Teach, Learn, Share

Mostly I'm a jack-of-all-trades, with basic knowledge of a wide range of subjects, but very few areas of expertise. Unless you're interested in hearing about naval history, I suppose the best I can offer is showing you how to Photoshop your travel photos. If you're not too camera-shy, I would also love to use you as a model.

And you? What can you teach me? Anything, really. Cooking, art, history, physics, anthropology, economics, electronics, painting, games, songs, jokes...

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom

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