by wolfgang haak on August 20, 2011
in Random
What could an event in Hungary and an English Tabloid have in common?
Glad you asked. I just read an Article on the German News Site “Der Spiegel” that mentions that at the 2011 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Hungary Gold medallists Anne Knorr and Debora Niche had to endure the deprecated first Verse of the Deutschland Lied, who’s third verse only is the German national Anthem. The first verse, that was played, starts with the infamous words, “Germany, Germany above everything, Above everything in the world…” Written almost a century before the third Reich in 1841, the lines appealed to for a united Germany above the ensemble of small Kingdoms that it was composed of. However the lines where interpreted out of their historic context by the Third Reich to mean that Germany was superior to the rest of the world, and is thus frowned upon to this day. The Official German anthem consists only of the third verse, “Unity and justice and freedom…”
So where does the Telegraph newspaper come in? Well, they too list in their section on the 2012 London Olympic Games Germany’s anthem as “Germany, Germany above everything, Above everything in the world”.
And to add insult to injury, they continue to summarise Germany with the six word, “Huns, Hitler, Hasselhoff (forgive and forget)”
Not surprising then with this much research going into their journalism, that the German phrasebook that follows on the Telegraph’ s website cites worse translations than the versions that Google Translate comes up with.
So I’ve got the kit for my sous-vide cooking and I am the (proud) owner of a LAVA V1.00 Premium vacuum sealer. It’s cost me a fair bit of money, so it better makes itself useful around the house.
Here are a few ideas:
- I cycle a lot, including my daily commute to work. Bicycle Panniers a re tough place for anything, as keys, spare clothes and essential tools all grind against anything else in the bag. I want to have a decent first aid kit with me, that survives the inevitable sand and grit influx into the bag. Vacuum sealed, the first aid kit becomes rigid, dust & waterproof and hard wearing.
- Bicycle repair kit. I’ve tried to carry a spare inner tube before, but the cardboard box in which they are sold barely survives a couple of days and if that doesn’t finish the tube off, then the constant grinding of sand and grit will chafe it to pieces by the time you need to use it. Vacuum seal ahoy!
- I’m a lover of warm winter clothes, in particular high quality wools. Unfortunately the local moth population has also figured out how tasty my jumpers are. I’m no fan of saturating my living room with moth poison, so I figured the best way of keeping my winter outfit in good shape is to seal it in.
- Love computers, help people out repairing stuff and and always have a box of untidy, unwieldy cables using up valuable space. You’ve guessed it, shrink’em down.
Cycling Highways? Boris you should learn how to walk before you can cycle. London’s streets are in a state of disrepair that won’t go away by merely talking about “excellence”, “militant about cycling”and “world class” alone. Get the shovel out and keep the drivel to yourself.
Somehow I don’t think this kind of damage is going away by glueing down some coloured resin bonded gravel. It’s going take a fair bit of more work than that to turn London into a cycle friendly city. You can probably guess that I’m writing this because I’m angry somehow. And you’re absolutely right. A couple of weeks ago I was nearly thrown off my bike when I hit a severe pothole that broke my front rim in the instant of impact. My anger over the almost £100 I spend on a new front rim, tire and tube isn’t eased when these dirt tracks that London’s Mayor Boris Johnson wants to turn into “cycle highways” rattle the fillings out of my teeth. At times you can not avoid going over these crevices because of the traffic situation. Neither does appear safe to slow down when there’s a hoard of cyclists following close behind – so you’re left with no option but to brave it through these assault courses.
[click to continue…]
What can I add to that. It’s early morning, I’m on my way to work. Waiting as most people with “plugs” in my ears, drinking a fresh coffee under the sterile lights deep underground on the cavernous platform, when I noticed that us passengers are not the only ones occupying the seats. There is someone on the empty seats, too.
On every one of them. I keep my head down, and hope I let “them” not know that I discovered “them”, maybe they’ll leave me in peace too. Scary stuff so early in the morning.
by wolfgang haak on Dezember 4, 2009
in Random
google gears,
oh, dear oh, dear.
another website of mine (www.burstofcolour.com) is hosted on a seriously slow server. Cash is short supply atm, so I thought, I’d be smart and install Google Gears as this will help speeding up wordpress.
Follow the link to gears.google.com (temporarily allow scripts from google.com in ScriptBlock) and after a refresh you’d think you’re almost there.
[click to continue…]
Bees take over bakery van
You may have heart the alarming stories that bees are disappearing around the world. Apparently it’s due to a protein problem, but in London scientists may have to think again:
I spotted some unusual activity on a white van parked at the top of my street (North London), only a few meters from a bakery. Dozens of bees were buzzing around, congregating at the back light of the van, where some damage had opened up a crack. I assume the crack gave the busy gatherers access to the interior, stacked with crates of honey soaked baklava, Danish pastries and other baking goods.
But the shock got bigger, when I walked around the side of the van, and discovered a moving curtain of bees “flowing” their way of the co-drivers side window to what looked like a new nest, just above the co-drivers seat!
As one elderly gentleman commented:
Bees are getting rare these days, those in the van will cost more than the van itself…
Check out the pictures for some bee-tastic swarming. I didn’t stay around for long enough to see what happened when the driver/owner returned, but the van was gone the next day.
by wolfgang haak on September 11, 2009
in Random
I spotted this on the way to work. Crazy!
It’s not exactly confidence inspiring, is it?
fountain plc and British Waterways van showing pesticides and dangerous chemicals warning signs.
From the fountain plc website:
From a background of forestry and arboriculture, we have grown and developed to offer a complete managed service approach to customers operating in both green and built environments.
Teams at fountains have specific experience in ecological surveying offering consultation for future protection and enhancement. Further ecological advice covers the development of ecological habitats, restoration work and managing sites of sensitive or special ecology.
snapped on Essex Road, London. Judge yourself!
Went to the pub last night, after the Thursday meet and training session with my dive club. It’s a good way to socialise, plan trips and engage in a lot of geek talk!
The pub is not in the busiest part of town, tucked away in a side street, the sort of place where locals hang out for a pint in the evening, well and us diving lot! To my surprise, the toilet has been transformed into a police line-up/ identity parade/mugshot background, with height markings on the wall, and the waning:
“Get caught drink driving and you’ll be processed like any other criminal. think!”
I’m still confused if I should be inspired by the doom and gloom transformation of a bog to a shady police station ID parade room, or anxious and alerted where Big Brother is going to haunt me next. Is it asked too much to take a leak in peace? All they need to do now is force the landlord to install CCTV and your mugshot is on it’s way to a police DB.
Or, maybe, I should read the sign properly. “Get caught..” ! Ah, sorted then. Go have a drink, just don’t get caught. That makes feel so much better, lesson learnt.
