2.) Take a look at this CGI flash woman and follow the link -> and move your mouse around. Pretty amazing how she follows the mouse pointer!
The link is here.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Something techy and creepy
1.) Take a look at a new $2 million dollar NASA lunar vehicle - as far as I know it's called Chariot. Pretty interesting design... Here's the link for more information!
2.) Take a look at this CGI flash woman and follow the link -> and move your mouse around. Pretty amazing how she follows the mouse pointer!
The link is here.
2.) Take a look at this CGI flash woman and follow the link -> and move your mouse around. Pretty amazing how she follows the mouse pointer!
The link is here.
Mesdames et Messieurs: le sirop d'érable
Today I visited "Snow's Sugarbush" (sugar&snow) which is nothing else than a real maple syrup farm! Apparently Michigan is quite famous for its maple syrup and so I took the chance to actually see such a farm. We drove about 1 hour to the west of Ann Arbor until we reached Mason, MI. The farm is a family business and isn't that big, but apparently they have about 11'ooo buckets distributed all around the farm! And someone told me that those buckets are filled with sap after about 2 days! Imagine that! So I think they're pretty busy during the sap season, which is about now.
Here you can actually see some of the buckets attached to a very old and big maple tree (it is the same tree on both pictures!):
The next picture is rather fuzzy (I apologize) but I wanted to take a picture of one of these thingies that they plug into the tree to get the sap drizzling out:
Some more interesting information on maple syrup:
1.) It takes about 40 gallons (~ 150 liters) of sap to produce 1 gallon (3.78541178 liters) of pure maple syrup!
2.) The temperatures need to be at around 20° Fahrenheit (~ -7°C) at night and 40° Fahrenheit (~ 4.5° Celsius) during the day to get the sap running.
When they actually collected the sap they have to cook it to get rid of the high water content. They gave us some pure maple sap to taste and it really was a rather strange taste. Something in between maple syrup, water and wood. It had definitely a wooden taste! Here's the fancy machine they use for cooking (by the way: I really felt like a tourist taking so many pictures. But hey... somehow I am a tourist, am I not?) :
And then they also explained how they produce maple cream - which is really really really delicious. Maple syrup itself is very sweet, but somehow the cream wasn't that sweet, just right! And of course maple sugar candy. But I didn't get to taste those (-_-).
And the best part of it came afterwards. They have a restaurant right beside the farm where you can eat a breakfast (as much as you can eat!) for only $7.50! There you could choose from pancakes with maple syrup, French toast with maple syrup, waffles with maple syrup and additionally patties and sausages. I don't know why you need the patties and sausages, but they added a very nice salty flavor to the combination. Otherwise the sugary part might have been just too much sweetness. Because it was a "take whatever you want" occasion I tried everything (^_^). It was really delicious. I wanted to take a picture, but honestly I was too hungry, so I forgot about it. And taking a picture of an empty plate wouldn't have been very interesting I guess... My favorite combination is now decided: Waffles with maple syrup... mhmmm...
Back outside I saw the carriage of the farm passing by - of course for the tourists. But I was more amazed that the dog was actually enjoying his ride as well (^_^)
See what sign the owner put up on the carriage (that's actually him - belonging to the hand):
Now I know what maple syrup is (I've never tried it before - really) and I have to announce: it's worth a try! (^_^)
Ah, and I have some more things for the oddities section:
1.) Did you know that there are signs in the restrooms (for example in Starbucks, but also in lots of other places), which actually say the following: "Employees must wash hands before returning to work". I hope they do so! Rules are here to be followed!
2.) Did you know that on American highways you can overtake a car on whatever side of the road? And that the exits can be on both sides of the road? Which seems a bit dangerous to me, but apparently it works fine. And that there are signs at each exit (called "food exit signs" I think) which tell you exactly which restaurants you'll find at this exit and how far you have to drive to get there?! I was told that comes in very handy if you drive for a long distance, become hungry and look for a restaurant. Because not every exit has restaurants - so before they put up those signs people must have get lost a lot on the lookout for food a lot... Handy, but I was a bit disgusted by the fact that most of those restaurant signs are from chains like McDonald's. Not very healthy if you ask me!
3.) Have you ever noticed the difference between European trucks and American trucks? American ones have some kind of a snout and look much more heavier and stronger!
4.) Ok, this goes into the section of "Maybe it's a prejudice, but probably there's also a grain of truth in it". I noticed that in American society people mostly exaggerate when they are asked if they like something or not. So to re-calculate to European level you should apply the following rule: "Statement of an American" minus "proportional level of exaggeration" equals to "European version". It's a bit fuzzy, but let me explain: You ask an American how he liked a certain thing (I only use the male version, otherwise it gets way too confusing).
Here's the translation:
He says: it was ok. This means it was not ok.
He says: it was good. This means it was ok.
He says: it was very good. This means it was good.
He says: it was great. This means it was very good.
He says: it was fantastic. This means it was great.
He says: it was **** (now it gets difficult because there are so many levels of saying that something was awesome). But it means that it was **** minus one level - got it?
Major exemption:
He says: it was interesting. This means: it was interesting - which translates to the same thing in Europe as in America: It was absolutely not good, but I don't want to say that out loudly. Probably we're not so different after all (^_-)
Here you can actually see some of the buckets attached to a very old and big maple tree (it is the same tree on both pictures!):
The next picture is rather fuzzy (I apologize) but I wanted to take a picture of one of these thingies that they plug into the tree to get the sap drizzling out:
Some more interesting information on maple syrup:
1.) It takes about 40 gallons (~ 150 liters) of sap to produce 1 gallon (3.78541178 liters) of pure maple syrup!
2.) The temperatures need to be at around 20° Fahrenheit (~ -7°C) at night and 40° Fahrenheit (~ 4.5° Celsius) during the day to get the sap running.
When they actually collected the sap they have to cook it to get rid of the high water content. They gave us some pure maple sap to taste and it really was a rather strange taste. Something in between maple syrup, water and wood. It had definitely a wooden taste! Here's the fancy machine they use for cooking (by the way: I really felt like a tourist taking so many pictures. But hey... somehow I am a tourist, am I not?) :
And then they also explained how they produce maple cream - which is really really really delicious. Maple syrup itself is very sweet, but somehow the cream wasn't that sweet, just right! And of course maple sugar candy. But I didn't get to taste those (-_-).
And the best part of it came afterwards. They have a restaurant right beside the farm where you can eat a breakfast (as much as you can eat!) for only $7.50! There you could choose from pancakes with maple syrup, French toast with maple syrup, waffles with maple syrup and additionally patties and sausages. I don't know why you need the patties and sausages, but they added a very nice salty flavor to the combination. Otherwise the sugary part might have been just too much sweetness. Because it was a "take whatever you want" occasion I tried everything (^_^). It was really delicious. I wanted to take a picture, but honestly I was too hungry, so I forgot about it. And taking a picture of an empty plate wouldn't have been very interesting I guess... My favorite combination is now decided: Waffles with maple syrup... mhmmm...
Back outside I saw the carriage of the farm passing by - of course for the tourists. But I was more amazed that the dog was actually enjoying his ride as well (^_^)
See what sign the owner put up on the carriage (that's actually him - belonging to the hand):
Now I know what maple syrup is (I've never tried it before - really) and I have to announce: it's worth a try! (^_^)
Ah, and I have some more things for the oddities section:
1.) Did you know that there are signs in the restrooms (for example in Starbucks, but also in lots of other places), which actually say the following: "Employees must wash hands before returning to work". I hope they do so! Rules are here to be followed!
2.) Did you know that on American highways you can overtake a car on whatever side of the road? And that the exits can be on both sides of the road? Which seems a bit dangerous to me, but apparently it works fine. And that there are signs at each exit (called "food exit signs" I think) which tell you exactly which restaurants you'll find at this exit and how far you have to drive to get there?! I was told that comes in very handy if you drive for a long distance, become hungry and look for a restaurant. Because not every exit has restaurants - so before they put up those signs people must have get lost a lot on the lookout for food a lot... Handy, but I was a bit disgusted by the fact that most of those restaurant signs are from chains like McDonald's. Not very healthy if you ask me!
3.) Have you ever noticed the difference between European trucks and American trucks? American ones have some kind of a snout and look much more heavier and stronger!
4.) Ok, this goes into the section of "Maybe it's a prejudice, but probably there's also a grain of truth in it". I noticed that in American society people mostly exaggerate when they are asked if they like something or not. So to re-calculate to European level you should apply the following rule: "Statement of an American" minus "proportional level of exaggeration" equals to "European version". It's a bit fuzzy, but let me explain: You ask an American how he liked a certain thing (I only use the male version, otherwise it gets way too confusing).
Here's the translation:
He says: it was ok. This means it was not ok.
He says: it was good. This means it was ok.
He says: it was very good. This means it was good.
He says: it was great. This means it was very good.
He says: it was fantastic. This means it was great.
He says: it was **** (now it gets difficult because there are so many levels of saying that something was awesome). But it means that it was **** minus one level - got it?
Major exemption:
He says: it was interesting. This means: it was interesting - which translates to the same thing in Europe as in America: It was absolutely not good, but I don't want to say that out loudly. Probably we're not so different after all (^_-)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Howly - Mowly !
Hi there!
First of all a big "howly-mowly!" because of the recent increased activity going on here! I'm really positively surprised that my blog was able to capture some interest from people who actually don't know me! (^_^) I hope you guys & gals continue to enjoy my blog and thanks for all the posts - at least it shows me that some people are reading it! (^_^)
So, now to what has been going on recently... First I saw snowdrops this morning! The first sign of an approaching spring! Yippee! But then it started snowing some hours ago and more snow is predicted for the night. Perfect! We're back to snow and winter... so again I was ploughing my way back home this evening... Ah well...
Also I was attending a talk of the chief of the NASA Ames Research Center. Very interesting indeed! Did you know that Google is already collaborating in NASA Research (see here and here)? Of course we've all heard about Google Moon, but I didn't know that Misters Page and Brin invest so much money into Space Research! And have you heard about cyanobacteria (cyanobacteria_wiki) - they are supposed to be able to grow in space! Isn't that amazing? Who's interested in getting into research about this (*hint hint* to ldw (^_^))? Ah this is just so interesting! (*_*)
And also an update on the rovers (see here). If I got this right this means in plain words that they want to cut the budget for the rovers and so they'll probably not be able to maintain both of them anymore - so while they don't have money they put them into hibernation mode. But they claim that they'll be able to bring those rovers out of this hibernation state as soon as they have enough money. Hmmm... I wonder if they can just switch those rovers on, so just like that...
Something of another nature, but still related to space flight (origami2space): The Japanese want to launch a paper airplane from space! If this works this could revolutionize design of re-entry vehicles or space probes! What they did so far is a prototype for feasibility studies. I wonder where this will lead to... I'll follow that closely (^_^)
and last but not least: tonight I finally tasted a true American burger with French fries and some pickles. And it was actually very yummy! But I think that I won't get burger for a long long time... just a too intense taste for me... (^_^)
Take care all of you!
First of all a big "howly-mowly!" because of the recent increased activity going on here! I'm really positively surprised that my blog was able to capture some interest from people who actually don't know me! (^_^) I hope you guys & gals continue to enjoy my blog and thanks for all the posts - at least it shows me that some people are reading it! (^_^)
So, now to what has been going on recently... First I saw snowdrops this morning! The first sign of an approaching spring! Yippee! But then it started snowing some hours ago and more snow is predicted for the night. Perfect! We're back to snow and winter... so again I was ploughing my way back home this evening... Ah well...
Also I was attending a talk of the chief of the NASA Ames Research Center. Very interesting indeed! Did you know that Google is already collaborating in NASA Research (see here and here)? Of course we've all heard about Google Moon, but I didn't know that Misters Page and Brin invest so much money into Space Research! And have you heard about cyanobacteria (cyanobacteria_wiki) - they are supposed to be able to grow in space! Isn't that amazing? Who's interested in getting into research about this (*hint hint* to ldw (^_^))? Ah this is just so interesting! (*_*)
And also an update on the rovers (see here). If I got this right this means in plain words that they want to cut the budget for the rovers and so they'll probably not be able to maintain both of them anymore - so while they don't have money they put them into hibernation mode. But they claim that they'll be able to bring those rovers out of this hibernation state as soon as they have enough money. Hmmm... I wonder if they can just switch those rovers on, so just like that...
Something of another nature, but still related to space flight (origami2space): The Japanese want to launch a paper airplane from space! If this works this could revolutionize design of re-entry vehicles or space probes! What they did so far is a prototype for feasibility studies. I wonder where this will lead to... I'll follow that closely (^_^)
and last but not least: tonight I finally tasted a true American burger with French fries and some pickles. And it was actually very yummy! But I think that I won't get burger for a long long time... just a too intense taste for me... (^_^)
Take care all of you!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Japanese Smileys
As requested I give you here a brief introduction to Japanese Smileys:
(^_^) smiling
(^_^)/ saying hello (with one hand raised)
\(^_^)/ ta-da (with both hands raised)
(^_-) winking
(-_-) being sleepy
(_ _) with your head on your desk
m(_ _)m bowing (with your hands besides you)
(>_<) oi!
(>_<") ouch!
(T_T) crying
(~o~) yawn
d=(^o^)=b yeah!
o(^o^)o being cheerful
(+.+)(-.-)(_ _)..zzZZ fall sleep
( ^)(^_^) peck on the cheek
and the advanced level - look at them like a film... those are actually kind of four frames which translate into a movement:
o(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)o dancing
more to be found here: hiroette
(^_^) smiling
(^_^)/ saying hello (with one hand raised)
\(^_^)/ ta-da (with both hands raised)
(^_-) winking
(-_-) being sleepy
(_ _) with your head on your desk
m(_ _)m bowing (with your hands besides you)
(>_<) oi!
(>_<") ouch!
(T_T) crying
(~o~) yawn
d=(^o^)=b yeah!
o(^o^)o being cheerful
(+.+)(-.-)(_ _)..zzZZ fall sleep
( ^)(^_^) peck on the cheek
and the advanced level - look at them like a film... those are actually kind of four frames which translate into a movement:
o(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)o dancing
more to be found here: hiroette
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Lyre bird
This is so amazing that I had to post it here on my blog.
Thanks to N. for showing it to me! (^_^)
Thanks to N. for showing it to me! (^_^)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Tear gas was yesterday, today we have RPB
Today I found a very effective way to replace tear gas: It's very simple to produce and its effect is instantaneous. Why go through the hassle of dispersing a crowd by making them cry? Why not produce such a horrid smell that everyone will be repelled by it and will go away unsolicited? And how? With RPB - rancid peanut butter! Today I opened a peanut butter jar which someone had filled halfway with water and then left sitting in our kitchen for quite a long time. The smell was just overwhelming. THE most horrid smell I've ever encountered in my whole life. It really made me feel very sick and filled me with a desire to leave the room/house/area immediately. And breathing through my nose didn't really help either! My first reaction was to just leave and go away, but then I realized that I had to save my house mates from the olfactory shock! So I opened all available windows and let fresh air into the room. But also after massive airing a faint smell still lingered in the room. Horrible! Gruesome! And the smell also burned itself into my memory. Even now while writing this I have to keep myself from remembering the smell. *yuck*
But don't make the mistake to reproduce this experiment. The effects could be ghastly and don't blame me for it! I told you NOT to try it! (^_-)
But don't make the mistake to reproduce this experiment. The effects could be ghastly and don't blame me for it! I told you NOT to try it! (^_-)
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Das git's doch nid!
Hi there!
Some astonishing things I encountered today...
First: I (limited as my experience may be) thought that Easter was celebrated in America as well. Probably I thought so because I also thought that the U.S. is a rather religious country. Either I'm wrong with both statements or the second one doesn't strictly imply the first one. Today it's Good Friday and everything is like a normal day. Students and PhDs working, professors teaching and the coffee shops are opened. Ah, and also the cleaning personnel is working! Tonight at about 7pm or 8pm I was kindly informed that I should either leave quite soon or I'm not allowed to leave my office anymore. Huh? Why? They want to polish the floor and once they start no one should dare to step on it. Ah, ok... well, then I better leave as quickly as possible. Maybe I'll stay one day (or night - haha) over night to work at the RadLab, but then I prefer to make this decision actively and not because I cannot show my face in the corridor because I'm afraid to get whacked over by a broom (^_-)
Secondly: When I got outside this view greeted me:
What shall I say? It's snowing like mad outside!!! It started this afternoon at about 3pm and hasn't stopped since. And of course this snow has caused major havoc around the city. The buses run late, cars get stuck in front of traffic lights because they're not able to move again after they've come to a halt and the police is all over the place... their lights flashing brightly. It was really ridiculous to see one of these fancy, big SUVs (sport utility vehicle - means huge and bulky car) slithering around because of a bit of snow on the ground. Aren't they supposed to work best in these circumstances?! Or is it all show? (I knew it!). It's like being in Zürich with about 1.5cm of snow on the ground and all the trams get stuck... *hach*, that's nostalgia (^_-)
On my way to work this morning (with strong emphasis on THIS MORNING) I saw daffodils (Osterglocken) nearly ready to bloom. This puzzled me quite a bit... Officially it's spring but if you would have to decide if it's spring or not based on temperature and day length alone (and daffodils might have to do that... obviously... at least I think so. Or maybe they have a small little gizmo thing implanted which tells them exactly when it's time for them to bloom) I wouldn't be able to come to a proper decision. This evening I was looking for them again, but they were covered so deep in snow that I wasn't even able to recognize the hilly structure which normally forms when snow covers a plant... I briefly thought about searching for them in the snow, but then I dismissed this idea... wouldn't want to step on them... poor daffodils. But maybe it's cozier being covered with snow. Who knows? Maybe an Inuit? But these considerations lead too far off the path.. My mood didn't improve when this sight greeted me. I nearly took a fall down those steps... at least I now know how a snow plough feels ... if it had feelings. ok, I leave this now.
Thirdly: Surprise Surprise! I feared that one day I would have to discuss this matter on my blog. For everyone who has read my blog while I was in Holland can probably remember the same old sad story: milk. I mean I'm not really a milk person, actually everyone who knows me can confirm that I mostly avoid milk. But every now and then I come across it and then it better be good! In Holland we always had to buy the full cream milk because this was about comparable to normal drinking milk of Swiss standard. So here in the U.S. I made an experiment. I tried skim fat free milk. Yeah, something learned for life I tell you. On the package it writes "grade A pasteurized homogenized vitamin A & D" and "No growth hormones added"... Hmmm... I just want milk?! Plain simple normal milk? I have to take another look next time I go shopping because this milk is definitely not an option. But at least I know now what "skimmed fat free milk" is. I came across it some times already but then it was hiding itself mischievously in coffee and I couldn't really tell the difference. But of course now I stick to house coffee - black without sugar, so there's no way this milky thing can get into my coffee. Talking about coffee (are you bored of my coffee talk already?): Today I bought one of those fancy mugs from the university. It's actually just a plastic thermos container. That's not the reason why I bought it though. I just noticed that I produce an inconsiderable amount of garbage with my daily coffee drinking. All those plastic mugs which keep sitting on my desk for some hours just go straight in the bin - they sum up quite a bit. And this university mug comes with the option to get cheaper refills. There you go! Both good for the environment and good for my purse. Perfect! But I'm struggling with adjusting to the size of the mug. Because it's bigger than a normal "small" size and so I have either to drink more quickly or get used to cold coffee (yeah I know, there are voices that say that's not a new experience to me...) And another drawback I already noticed: You have to actually remember to bring your mug to the coffee shop to get it refilled! I'm working on it.
But now something to cheer you up (at least it does it for me):
I finally managed to catch an American cab and take a picture of it! Like in the movies I've seen! (^_^). Do you notice the ground? Void of snow? Dry? This picture was taken this morning...
Some astonishing things I encountered today...
First: I (limited as my experience may be) thought that Easter was celebrated in America as well. Probably I thought so because I also thought that the U.S. is a rather religious country. Either I'm wrong with both statements or the second one doesn't strictly imply the first one. Today it's Good Friday and everything is like a normal day. Students and PhDs working, professors teaching and the coffee shops are opened. Ah, and also the cleaning personnel is working! Tonight at about 7pm or 8pm I was kindly informed that I should either leave quite soon or I'm not allowed to leave my office anymore. Huh? Why? They want to polish the floor and once they start no one should dare to step on it. Ah, ok... well, then I better leave as quickly as possible. Maybe I'll stay one day (or night - haha) over night to work at the RadLab, but then I prefer to make this decision actively and not because I cannot show my face in the corridor because I'm afraid to get whacked over by a broom (^_-)
Secondly: When I got outside this view greeted me:
What shall I say? It's snowing like mad outside!!! It started this afternoon at about 3pm and hasn't stopped since. And of course this snow has caused major havoc around the city. The buses run late, cars get stuck in front of traffic lights because they're not able to move again after they've come to a halt and the police is all over the place... their lights flashing brightly. It was really ridiculous to see one of these fancy, big SUVs (sport utility vehicle - means huge and bulky car) slithering around because of a bit of snow on the ground. Aren't they supposed to work best in these circumstances?! Or is it all show? (I knew it!). It's like being in Zürich with about 1.5cm of snow on the ground and all the trams get stuck... *hach*, that's nostalgia (^_-)
On my way to work this morning (with strong emphasis on THIS MORNING) I saw daffodils (Osterglocken) nearly ready to bloom. This puzzled me quite a bit... Officially it's spring but if you would have to decide if it's spring or not based on temperature and day length alone (and daffodils might have to do that... obviously... at least I think so. Or maybe they have a small little gizmo thing implanted which tells them exactly when it's time for them to bloom) I wouldn't be able to come to a proper decision. This evening I was looking for them again, but they were covered so deep in snow that I wasn't even able to recognize the hilly structure which normally forms when snow covers a plant... I briefly thought about searching for them in the snow, but then I dismissed this idea... wouldn't want to step on them... poor daffodils. But maybe it's cozier being covered with snow. Who knows? Maybe an Inuit? But these considerations lead too far off the path.. My mood didn't improve when this sight greeted me. I nearly took a fall down those steps... at least I now know how a snow plough feels ... if it had feelings. ok, I leave this now.
Thirdly: Surprise Surprise! I feared that one day I would have to discuss this matter on my blog. For everyone who has read my blog while I was in Holland can probably remember the same old sad story: milk. I mean I'm not really a milk person, actually everyone who knows me can confirm that I mostly avoid milk. But every now and then I come across it and then it better be good! In Holland we always had to buy the full cream milk because this was about comparable to normal drinking milk of Swiss standard. So here in the U.S. I made an experiment. I tried skim fat free milk. Yeah, something learned for life I tell you. On the package it writes "grade A pasteurized homogenized vitamin A & D" and "No growth hormones added"... Hmmm... I just want milk?! Plain simple normal milk? I have to take another look next time I go shopping because this milk is definitely not an option. But at least I know now what "skimmed fat free milk" is. I came across it some times already but then it was hiding itself mischievously in coffee and I couldn't really tell the difference. But of course now I stick to house coffee - black without sugar, so there's no way this milky thing can get into my coffee. Talking about coffee (are you bored of my coffee talk already?): Today I bought one of those fancy mugs from the university. It's actually just a plastic thermos container. That's not the reason why I bought it though. I just noticed that I produce an inconsiderable amount of garbage with my daily coffee drinking. All those plastic mugs which keep sitting on my desk for some hours just go straight in the bin - they sum up quite a bit. And this university mug comes with the option to get cheaper refills. There you go! Both good for the environment and good for my purse. Perfect! But I'm struggling with adjusting to the size of the mug. Because it's bigger than a normal "small" size and so I have either to drink more quickly or get used to cold coffee (yeah I know, there are voices that say that's not a new experience to me...) And another drawback I already noticed: You have to actually remember to bring your mug to the coffee shop to get it refilled! I'm working on it.
But now something to cheer you up (at least it does it for me):
I finally managed to catch an American cab and take a picture of it! Like in the movies I've seen! (^_^). Do you notice the ground? Void of snow? Dry? This picture was taken this morning...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Vanilla sky
On my daily way to work I took a picture of a rather strange sky... misty, milky and mysterious. A vanilla sky.
For all Persians: Happy New Year!
And for all Non-Persians a short explanation: In Persia New Year is celebrated on the equinox, which means the exact moment when the Sun is positioned directly over the Earth's equator. This will be the case in about two hours... exactly at 05:48 UTC, which is Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 1:48:00 AM in local time (Ann Arbor). Happy New Year to you all and hopefully spring will really start now!
For all Persians: Happy New Year!
And for all Non-Persians a short explanation: In Persia New Year is celebrated on the equinox, which means the exact moment when the Sun is positioned directly over the Earth's equator. This will be the case in about two hours... exactly at 05:48 UTC, which is Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 1:48:00 AM in local time (Ann Arbor). Happy New Year to you all and hopefully spring will really start now!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
What's going on in Tibet?
Read for yourself - updated regularly: (tibetnews) Should be a reliable source... I wonder where this will all lead to...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Trip to Detroit
Hi there,
Today I went to a trip to Detroit - as the title obviously suggests... duh...
I got to know about this trip to the Detroit Opera House last week and was eager to join. When is it otherwise possible to be driven comfortably, get some nice lunch and then attend "Giselle" danced by the Joffrey Ballet group for such a convenient price and while meeting new people? (Thanks to Umich Arts & Programs!).
While on my way to the agreed meeting point I stopped at Starbucks to pick up a single espresso (this time without any sugar at all - well done!). And what do I see? Today's Special: Leprechaun Mocha (Mint mocha). Hmmm... leprechaun? not a very common word here in America. The last time I read it was in a Harry Potter book, but more about that later... So I managed to be at the agreed meeting point at 10am sharp. First surprise: We are actually driving in one of those fancy blue-yellow Umich busses. So everyone will then know where we come from - great! But I later found out that the combination of the city of Detroit and those buses is not very favorable. Detroit has many holes in the roads and even on the highways and the seats of this bus didn't have cushioning...
Off we go to Detroit. We're on our way out of Ann Arbor and there are just so many youngsters walking around clad all in green with strangely shaped hats and goggles. Most of them also have a beer in their hand and mind you, it's only just 11am! ... Hmmm, I'm getting serious thoughts about American culture... The trip was rather pleasant, some nice conversation going on. While talking and enjoying I noticed that the highways are really big here. Not the number of lanes but the sheer size of one single lane! And then there is no fence at the outside of the highway, neither is there one on the middle line. There's just a small drain... Hmmm...
Arriving in Detroit. Did you ever see American movies where there's steam coming out of the manhole covers? I actually thought that this steam was just added for suspense reasons, but it is really steaming out of each of those manholes in Detroit! I wonder why?
At 2pm the opera started. I have to say that I've never been in such a huge opera house. The size of the stage was amazing! The ballet people had lots of space to perform... Everything can be (not 'must', and I did avoid saying 'is' - you noticed?) oversized in America!
The story of "Giselle"? A rather strange setup: Giselle falls in love with Albrecht (yeah, you read correctly, the main character is actually called Albrecht!). Albrecht swears eternal love to her and she believes it. In a big showdown Giselle then discovers that Albrecht already promised marriage to a princess, so she goes slightly mad (actually quite a lot according to her dancing style) and because of a weak heart and too much dancing she dies of a heart attack. And that's just the end of act I! Just to emphasize again on that point: First act over, female main character dead. The whole setup of act II is then on the graveyard where Giselle is buried. Albrecht visits her grave and encounters the ghosts of the graveyard. Apparently all the girls who weren't able to marry before they died come back during some nights to tease the men, curse them and dance with them until they die. Albrecht is then able to see Giselle again and apologize to her. After a lot of dancing he succeeds to persuade not only her but also all the other ghosts at the graveyard and is release into the human world again. Giselle disappears (apparently happy) and Albrecht is devastated (but at least not dead). The end. Sad and strange story, isn't it? By the way: the Joffrey ballet is rather famous in America. Apparently it's the best ballet school in America!
And then off we go back to Ann Arbor. Over all a very nice trip and I truly enjoyed the ballet performance. But what was it all about leprechauns, people clad in green and the beer drinking? "Next Monday is St. Patricks Day!" - "Wow ... and so what?" - "Well, the Americans celebrate this day not on Monday, but on the nearest Saturday, which is today!"" Why?" - would you ask. "Well - I heard it's mainly about drinking the whole day and it wouldn't be very much fun to drink on a Monday and then go to work Tuesday, isn't it?" "Well, that makes sense of course..." But still, the Irish people mostly don't celebrate this day - although it's a festivity about their independence from Great Britain - but the Americans do... hmmm... weird... Everything got clear when I saw some undergrads playing "beer pong" in front of their house. They actually placed a table in the lawn in front of their house and were playing this game (involving 2 ping pong balls, some cups and a lot of beer). At this point it became clear to me: it really is only about drinking! And there's a part of pinching people who are not clad in green, no idea why this is like that... You wanna know how the game "beer pong" works? Won't be revealed here... but it's fun, I also played it (^_^).
So on my way back home I encountered lots of people in the weirdest outfits: cowboy hats, leprechaun hats and overall the color green. yuck! I heard that in Chicago even the river will be turned green by putting some essence in it... and it was only 6pm...
And a last advice: Don't drink beer that has been dyed green. The color will somehow manage to stick to your teeth and green teeth don't really look nice, you know? (^_-)
Today I went to a trip to Detroit - as the title obviously suggests... duh...
I got to know about this trip to the Detroit Opera House last week and was eager to join. When is it otherwise possible to be driven comfortably, get some nice lunch and then attend "Giselle" danced by the Joffrey Ballet group for such a convenient price and while meeting new people? (Thanks to Umich Arts & Programs!).
While on my way to the agreed meeting point I stopped at Starbucks to pick up a single espresso (this time without any sugar at all - well done!). And what do I see? Today's Special: Leprechaun Mocha (Mint mocha). Hmmm... leprechaun? not a very common word here in America. The last time I read it was in a Harry Potter book, but more about that later... So I managed to be at the agreed meeting point at 10am sharp. First surprise: We are actually driving in one of those fancy blue-yellow Umich busses. So everyone will then know where we come from - great! But I later found out that the combination of the city of Detroit and those buses is not very favorable. Detroit has many holes in the roads and even on the highways and the seats of this bus didn't have cushioning...
Off we go to Detroit. We're on our way out of Ann Arbor and there are just so many youngsters walking around clad all in green with strangely shaped hats and goggles. Most of them also have a beer in their hand and mind you, it's only just 11am! ... Hmmm, I'm getting serious thoughts about American culture... The trip was rather pleasant, some nice conversation going on. While talking and enjoying I noticed that the highways are really big here. Not the number of lanes but the sheer size of one single lane! And then there is no fence at the outside of the highway, neither is there one on the middle line. There's just a small drain... Hmmm...
Arriving in Detroit. Did you ever see American movies where there's steam coming out of the manhole covers? I actually thought that this steam was just added for suspense reasons, but it is really steaming out of each of those manholes in Detroit! I wonder why?
At 2pm the opera started. I have to say that I've never been in such a huge opera house. The size of the stage was amazing! The ballet people had lots of space to perform... Everything can be (not 'must', and I did avoid saying 'is' - you noticed?) oversized in America!
The story of "Giselle"? A rather strange setup: Giselle falls in love with Albrecht (yeah, you read correctly, the main character is actually called Albrecht!). Albrecht swears eternal love to her and she believes it. In a big showdown Giselle then discovers that Albrecht already promised marriage to a princess, so she goes slightly mad (actually quite a lot according to her dancing style) and because of a weak heart and too much dancing she dies of a heart attack. And that's just the end of act I! Just to emphasize again on that point: First act over, female main character dead. The whole setup of act II is then on the graveyard where Giselle is buried. Albrecht visits her grave and encounters the ghosts of the graveyard. Apparently all the girls who weren't able to marry before they died come back during some nights to tease the men, curse them and dance with them until they die. Albrecht is then able to see Giselle again and apologize to her. After a lot of dancing he succeeds to persuade not only her but also all the other ghosts at the graveyard and is release into the human world again. Giselle disappears (apparently happy) and Albrecht is devastated (but at least not dead). The end. Sad and strange story, isn't it? By the way: the Joffrey ballet is rather famous in America. Apparently it's the best ballet school in America!
And then off we go back to Ann Arbor. Over all a very nice trip and I truly enjoyed the ballet performance. But what was it all about leprechauns, people clad in green and the beer drinking? "Next Monday is St. Patricks Day!" - "Wow ... and so what?" - "Well, the Americans celebrate this day not on Monday, but on the nearest Saturday, which is today!"" Why?" - would you ask. "Well - I heard it's mainly about drinking the whole day and it wouldn't be very much fun to drink on a Monday and then go to work Tuesday, isn't it?" "Well, that makes sense of course..." But still, the Irish people mostly don't celebrate this day - although it's a festivity about their independence from Great Britain - but the Americans do... hmmm... weird... Everything got clear when I saw some undergrads playing "beer pong" in front of their house. They actually placed a table in the lawn in front of their house and were playing this game (involving 2 ping pong balls, some cups and a lot of beer). At this point it became clear to me: it really is only about drinking! And there's a part of pinching people who are not clad in green, no idea why this is like that... You wanna know how the game "beer pong" works? Won't be revealed here... but it's fun, I also played it (^_^).
So on my way back home I encountered lots of people in the weirdest outfits: cowboy hats, leprechaun hats and overall the color green. yuck! I heard that in Chicago even the river will be turned green by putting some essence in it... and it was only 6pm...
And a last advice: Don't drink beer that has been dyed green. The color will somehow manage to stick to your teeth and green teeth don't really look nice, you know? (^_-)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Ode to coffee... mhmmm...
What a week! *sigh* I know I shouldn't say that considering that the week isn't quite over yet.... but nevertheless: What a week - it has been so far. Better? Yeah I know, it's better not to praise the day before it's night. Knock on wood.. *knock knock*
What was I about to say? Ah, yes. My favorite beverage at the moment: coffee... after going through various coffee adventures (which involved different mixtures of milk (skimmed or whole), sugar (in amounts of "a lot", "much more" and "even more"), chocolate (liquid!), and most importantly water(to fill the sizes of the cups [small, medium or large] - but which is for European standards simply [big - drinkable, bigger - on the verge of being too much, biggest - just too much], several possibilities of how long to actually let the coffee brew (ranging from "fresh out of the machine" to "sitting in a pot for half a day" and also various price ranges (here I won't go into details - I'm used to the fact that coffee can be expensive - I'm Swiss after all) I finally found something I can accept to actually call 'coffee': A small house coffee please! It's actually just plain black coffee, very watery, out of a thermos bottle (I have no idea why they serve it in this thing!). I usually drink it without milk and with two pouches (?!) of sugar. As I've adjusted to a coffee habit once more I'm now trying to reduce the sugar content. But it's hard, you know... Water with a hint of coffee doesn't really taste good. But what I like most about those coffee cups? The reclosable container lids! If you google them you'll find out very quickly that they are actually patented. Here's a picture to show you how they look like:
Don't be scared, it isn't that difficult to handle! Actually you're just able to close this small hole for the mouth after you used it and you're able to walk to your office without spilling coffee at each door! What an amazing invention! So easy, yet so effective and neat! Beauty lies in simplicity (^_^). At first I had some problems adjusting to the mechanism of drinking through that little hole. But after a while I have to admit that it's really practical to have such a thing. Probably that's the reason why you don't see coffee stains on the floor here at Umich while I remember to have seen a lot of them at the ETH. Well, you see! Learn from the Americans - to be exact from Tedford Jr. and Richard A. (Loveland, OH, US). They are the ones who want to patent it. Very neat, Misters!
Besides my coffee adventures (which are numerous and continue through my daily life) I also went to a talk of Mr. Peter C. Theisinger, director of the Engineering and Science Directorate
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was giving a talk on the Mars Rover Program. You remember Spirit and Opportunity? Launched in 2003 and still roving around on Mars... after 5 years up there! Amazing technology... see for yourself (spirited_opportune). I learned a lot during this one hour talk and I really have to admit that I'm absolutely fascinated by all those things. Just think about being an engineer on such a project! To work on such a difficult project with so many restraints. When they built Spirit and Opportunity they had to look after so many details: weight, shape, resistivity and so on. All those concepts that had to be taken into account. And then the combination of launching a vehicle into space (from Earth away), flying all the way to mars, entering its atmosphere and then releasing the rover. Those are actually three completely different tasks. And then the landing... airbag design, parachute and rocket launching to slow the thing down. So many fields of engineering come together and create something so unique. It's just marvelous! *getting bright eyes from all this writing and now deciding to stop at this point and release all the readers*...
Take care all of you and - all Europeans please listen closely now - please do me a favor: Tomorrow, buy a nice cup of coffee of your favorite brand or making. Then go somewhere you like, sit down or stand around whatever you prefer, observe your surroundings and look at the people passing by or get lost in your own thoughts, whatever suits you at this particular time ... but most of all, savor each drop of the coffee and be aware that you are a lucky person indeed! Not only because of the coffee of course, but perhaps it added a bit to your own personal happiness (^_-)
What was I about to say? Ah, yes. My favorite beverage at the moment: coffee... after going through various coffee adventures (which involved different mixtures of milk (skimmed or whole), sugar (in amounts of "a lot", "much more" and "even more"), chocolate (liquid!), and most importantly water(to fill the sizes of the cups [small, medium or large] - but which is for European standards simply [big - drinkable, bigger - on the verge of being too much, biggest - just too much], several possibilities of how long to actually let the coffee brew (ranging from "fresh out of the machine" to "sitting in a pot for half a day" and also various price ranges (here I won't go into details - I'm used to the fact that coffee can be expensive - I'm Swiss after all) I finally found something I can accept to actually call 'coffee': A small house coffee please! It's actually just plain black coffee, very watery, out of a thermos bottle (I have no idea why they serve it in this thing!). I usually drink it without milk and with two pouches (?!) of sugar. As I've adjusted to a coffee habit once more I'm now trying to reduce the sugar content. But it's hard, you know... Water with a hint of coffee doesn't really taste good. But what I like most about those coffee cups? The reclosable container lids! If you google them you'll find out very quickly that they are actually patented. Here's a picture to show you how they look like:
Don't be scared, it isn't that difficult to handle! Actually you're just able to close this small hole for the mouth after you used it and you're able to walk to your office without spilling coffee at each door! What an amazing invention! So easy, yet so effective and neat! Beauty lies in simplicity (^_^). At first I had some problems adjusting to the mechanism of drinking through that little hole. But after a while I have to admit that it's really practical to have such a thing. Probably that's the reason why you don't see coffee stains on the floor here at Umich while I remember to have seen a lot of them at the ETH. Well, you see! Learn from the Americans - to be exact from Tedford Jr. and Richard A. (Loveland, OH, US). They are the ones who want to patent it. Very neat, Misters!
Besides my coffee adventures (which are numerous and continue through my daily life) I also went to a talk of Mr. Peter C. Theisinger, director of the Engineering and Science Directorate
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was giving a talk on the Mars Rover Program. You remember Spirit and Opportunity? Launched in 2003 and still roving around on Mars... after 5 years up there! Amazing technology... see for yourself (spirited_opportune). I learned a lot during this one hour talk and I really have to admit that I'm absolutely fascinated by all those things. Just think about being an engineer on such a project! To work on such a difficult project with so many restraints. When they built Spirit and Opportunity they had to look after so many details: weight, shape, resistivity and so on. All those concepts that had to be taken into account. And then the combination of launching a vehicle into space (from Earth away), flying all the way to mars, entering its atmosphere and then releasing the rover. Those are actually three completely different tasks. And then the landing... airbag design, parachute and rocket launching to slow the thing down. So many fields of engineering come together and create something so unique. It's just marvelous! *getting bright eyes from all this writing and now deciding to stop at this point and release all the readers*...
Take care all of you and - all Europeans please listen closely now - please do me a favor: Tomorrow, buy a nice cup of coffee of your favorite brand or making. Then go somewhere you like, sit down or stand around whatever you prefer, observe your surroundings and look at the people passing by or get lost in your own thoughts, whatever suits you at this particular time ... but most of all, savor each drop of the coffee and be aware that you are a lucky person indeed! Not only because of the coffee of course, but perhaps it added a bit to your own personal happiness (^_-)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
There goes KIBO and DEXTRE!
And just another launch: Endeavour carrying the first parts of the Japanese Kibo lab and the Australian two-armed robot Dextre. Therefore "Banzai!" and "Good luck!" (how's that in Australian?!)... 16 days in orbit - never has a space shuttle been out there for such a long time. Good luck indeed!
From my side there are so many news that I don't know where to start... but the most important thing? Michigan weather finally got me down and thought me a lesson: I caught the sniffles (-_-). But I'm decided that I have no time and inclination to get truly sick! chop-chop! (^_-)
From my side there are so many news that I don't know where to start... but the most important thing? Michigan weather finally got me down and thought me a lesson: I caught the sniffles (-_-). But I'm decided that I have no time and inclination to get truly sick! chop-chop! (^_-)
Monday, March 10, 2008
Urban Inspiration
Have you heart about Banksy and his graffitis & drawings?
If not - please take a look at those wonderful graffitis which are spread all over London - outside or inside - (banksylink) and get inspired... or take a look at this page where you can find the graffitis which he draw on the Israelian/Palestinian Wall (wall_link) and get even more inspired...
by the way: if you wanna learn 'real' English then check out the Urban Dictionary. It came in handy quite some times already for me... (urbandic)
If not - please take a look at those wonderful graffitis which are spread all over London - outside or inside - (banksylink) and get inspired... or take a look at this page where you can find the graffitis which he draw on the Israelian/Palestinian Wall (wall_link) and get even more inspired...
by the way: if you wanna learn 'real' English then check out the Urban Dictionary. It came in handy quite some times already for me... (urbandic)
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Some awesome videos about ATV
General information about ATV from BBC:
Official Coverage material about the launch with tons of information !
Of course the first version I found was in French, but I figured that English would be more convenient for you guys (^_-)
1. Part:
2nd Part:
well, that's it for the moment...
Official Coverage material about the launch with tons of information !
Of course the first version I found was in French, but I figured that English would be more convenient for you guys (^_-)
1. Part:
2nd Part:
well, that's it for the moment...
ATV launched and deployed !
Everything went fine! But guess what... the actual docking won't take place until 3rd of April. Yeah... 2008 still. What are they waiting for? I definitely have to find out what they're doing during this time... maybe some fancy manoeuvres? (^_^)
Saturday, March 08, 2008
This time it's all about ATV !
Hi there,
Isn't that exciting? Tomorrow the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) named Jules Verne will go on it's journey to ISS (International Space Station). Go and watch the movie on this site - it shows the whole process of launching, navigating and docking! (somemoreinformation).
The ATV will be transported by an Ariane 5 rocket (and it's one of it's heaviest loads that it ever carried - about 20 tons!). After the release from the rocket the ATV will become kind of a independent space craft and will dock - on its own! - with the ISS ! Imagine that algorithm which overlooks and controls that. Because as I heart this whole procedure isn't controlled by some ground station but it's an independent process running on the ATV board computer. But of course the ground stations will observe it and hopefully they can intervene if anything goes wrong.
Why an ATV? Well, it's the first of maybe up to 5 ATVs. Their mission is to bring food, water and probably also air to the ISS and in return take all the waste off board. After a lifespan of several years the ATV will undock and reenter earth orbit in a way that it will completely burn... That's how they plan to get rid of all the waste! Until now I think it was mainly the Russians who provided food and water inventory for the ISS. But their space crafts were rather smaller and can carry only about 2.5 tons whereas the ATV can carry around 7.7 tons! Another very important job for the ATV is the planned height adjustments for the ISS. You know that while the ISS is circling earth it continuously looses height. So once in a while it's needed to place the ISS back in its planned altitude- about 300 km I think it is.
When the ATV will dock there will be two astronauts around in the ISS. Imagine being there and wait if everything goes fine! But I hope it will, let's see how the Russian docking module will do its work! Actually I saw this part of ATV in Noordwijk last year and it was really really impressive. Such a small part of ATV but so important for the whole project!
Development of 10 years came together, engineers and designers all over Europe worked together to make 'Jules Verne'. I hope it will be a successful story! So guys, tomorrow Sunday 9 March at 05:03 CET (04:03 UT) the journey will begin - if they don't decide to postpone the date. Here's a link where you can actually see the whole launch and docking procedure (atvmission) Have fun! My eyes will be turned upwards tomorrow... (^_^)
Isn't that exciting? Tomorrow the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) named Jules Verne will go on it's journey to ISS (International Space Station). Go and watch the movie on this site - it shows the whole process of launching, navigating and docking! (somemoreinformation).
The ATV will be transported by an Ariane 5 rocket (and it's one of it's heaviest loads that it ever carried - about 20 tons!). After the release from the rocket the ATV will become kind of a independent space craft and will dock - on its own! - with the ISS ! Imagine that algorithm which overlooks and controls that. Because as I heart this whole procedure isn't controlled by some ground station but it's an independent process running on the ATV board computer. But of course the ground stations will observe it and hopefully they can intervene if anything goes wrong.
Why an ATV? Well, it's the first of maybe up to 5 ATVs. Their mission is to bring food, water and probably also air to the ISS and in return take all the waste off board. After a lifespan of several years the ATV will undock and reenter earth orbit in a way that it will completely burn... That's how they plan to get rid of all the waste! Until now I think it was mainly the Russians who provided food and water inventory for the ISS. But their space crafts were rather smaller and can carry only about 2.5 tons whereas the ATV can carry around 7.7 tons! Another very important job for the ATV is the planned height adjustments for the ISS. You know that while the ISS is circling earth it continuously looses height. So once in a while it's needed to place the ISS back in its planned altitude- about 300 km I think it is.
When the ATV will dock there will be two astronauts around in the ISS. Imagine being there and wait if everything goes fine! But I hope it will, let's see how the Russian docking module will do its work! Actually I saw this part of ATV in Noordwijk last year and it was really really impressive. Such a small part of ATV but so important for the whole project!
Development of 10 years came together, engineers and designers all over Europe worked together to make 'Jules Verne'. I hope it will be a successful story! So guys, tomorrow Sunday 9 March at 05:03 CET (04:03 UT) the journey will begin - if they don't decide to postpone the date. Here's a link where you can actually see the whole launch and docking procedure (atvmission) Have fun! My eyes will be turned upwards tomorrow... (^_^)
Friday, March 07, 2008
o(^-^o)(o^-^)o o(^-^o)(o^-^)o
Hi there!
I'm currently reading a book about a journalist who's on the lookout for happiness. And during his reflections he travels through different countries - one of them is actually Switzerland. So what's the reason why the nice, neutral, army-knife-toting, watch-wearing, chocolate-eating Swiss are considered happy:
(The following listing is a truthful account out of the book "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner) And by the way: The order is not ranked - not sorted by importance or anything. So don't get me for that! (^_-) Just read it and think about it...
1.) Switzerland is efficient and punctual, wealthy and there is hardly any unemployment.
2.) Switzerland is neutral and has a profound political system where people vote approximately 23 times a year. This is a good thing and makes you a happy person because you feel like you can actually do something.
3.) Chocolate - what else is there to add?
4.) The public toilets are absolutely clean.
5.) Swiss try not to provoke envy in others which is a major cause for unhappiness (As the saying goes: "Don't shine the spotlight too brightly on yourself or you might get the shot") Which actually means: Swiss don't talk about money. Odd isn't it? In America the way is: if you've got it, flaunt it. The Swiss way is: if you've got it, hide it.
6.) Swiss are humorless, apparently. There's no reason why this would be connected with improving your happiness, but it's also no evidence that it decreases your happiness. Maybe it's just a statement of the author (^_-)
7.) Swiss are fond of rules. Everything is regimented in Switzerland, even anarchy. Once a year, on the May Day holiday, the anarchists break a few shop windows, but it's always exactly at the same time. As one Swiss person quipped, in a rare display of humor: "Yes, we have anarchy. It's this afternoon".
8.) Switzerland has a great nature, which greatly adds to happiness. Think of all the mountains, the forests and where you can go hiking...
9.) Swiss people seem to be very attached to their home country. So the Swiss passports list the name of their ancestral town. Not their hometown but the town of their roots. Maybe they weren't born there. Maybe they've never even been there. But it's their home. It is also said that the Swiss only become Swiss upon leaving the country. Until then, they are Genevans or Zurichers, or otherwise defined by wherever they happen to come from. So apparently the Swiss kind of invented "Heimweh".
10.) Swiss get along very well, because the Swiss don't understand each other - obviously because of the four different national languages.
11.) Swiss people can be trusted. There are still places in Switzerland where the people leave their doors unlocked. That adds greatly to happiness in general. Knowing everyone and being able to trust people.
12.) Swiss people are boring or bored a lot. But being bored is also a better state (concerning happiness) than being deeply depressed or super enthusiastic. Hmmm...
I'm currently reading a book about a journalist who's on the lookout for happiness. And during his reflections he travels through different countries - one of them is actually Switzerland. So what's the reason why the nice, neutral, army-knife-toting, watch-wearing, chocolate-eating Swiss are considered happy:
(The following listing is a truthful account out of the book "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner) And by the way: The order is not ranked - not sorted by importance or anything. So don't get me for that! (^_-) Just read it and think about it...
1.) Switzerland is efficient and punctual, wealthy and there is hardly any unemployment.
2.) Switzerland is neutral and has a profound political system where people vote approximately 23 times a year. This is a good thing and makes you a happy person because you feel like you can actually do something.
3.) Chocolate - what else is there to add?
4.) The public toilets are absolutely clean.
5.) Swiss try not to provoke envy in others which is a major cause for unhappiness (As the saying goes: "Don't shine the spotlight too brightly on yourself or you might get the shot") Which actually means: Swiss don't talk about money. Odd isn't it? In America the way is: if you've got it, flaunt it. The Swiss way is: if you've got it, hide it.
6.) Swiss are humorless, apparently. There's no reason why this would be connected with improving your happiness, but it's also no evidence that it decreases your happiness. Maybe it's just a statement of the author (^_-)
7.) Swiss are fond of rules. Everything is regimented in Switzerland, even anarchy. Once a year, on the May Day holiday, the anarchists break a few shop windows, but it's always exactly at the same time. As one Swiss person quipped, in a rare display of humor: "Yes, we have anarchy. It's this afternoon".
8.) Switzerland has a great nature, which greatly adds to happiness. Think of all the mountains, the forests and where you can go hiking...
9.) Swiss people seem to be very attached to their home country. So the Swiss passports list the name of their ancestral town. Not their hometown but the town of their roots. Maybe they weren't born there. Maybe they've never even been there. But it's their home. It is also said that the Swiss only become Swiss upon leaving the country. Until then, they are Genevans or Zurichers, or otherwise defined by wherever they happen to come from. So apparently the Swiss kind of invented "Heimweh".
10.) Swiss get along very well, because the Swiss don't understand each other - obviously because of the four different national languages.
11.) Swiss people can be trusted. There are still places in Switzerland where the people leave their doors unlocked. That adds greatly to happiness in general. Knowing everyone and being able to trust people.
12.) Swiss people are boring or bored a lot. But being bored is also a better state (concerning happiness) than being deeply depressed or super enthusiastic. Hmmm...
Ok, those are 12 points of how Swiss people are. For those who are Swiss: What do you think? Do they hit a nerve or are they just prejudice? What actually identifies a nation? Can you say a French is this and an Italian is that? And which nation would be the most happy one on Earth? Can you actually figure this out? This journalist has traveled to Bhutan, Qatar, the Netherlands, Iceland and so on. I've only traveled as far as Qatar with him, so I'll keep you posted on his ideas and enlightenments. Ponder on those things...
Good night...
Good night...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
*ping*
Hi folks!
Just a very short " Hi ! " from my side to let you know that I'm still around, well and working (^_^).
Life has been a bit full recently - so I need lots of sleep to assimilate it... ergo: less time to blog.. yeah I know, lame excuse (^_-) ...
By the way: have you seen the movie "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"? (imdb_sweeney). Strange movie indeed, lots of blood (everything is in black and white and of course the touch of red), very cruel (but it's still a musical !), lots of barber knives, a kind of jack-the-ripper-touch and a truly Tim Burton movie ...and people do look sick, don't they?
Tim Burton really has a problem with black/white and stripes... Did you notice that there's always a stripy thing in his movies - and most favorably on Johnny Depp?
I recommend it but only if you like Tim Burton movies and if you've eaten beforehand.
P.S.: Concerning my last post. The name of this animated short film was "Peter & the Wolf" and it actually won the Academy Award 2008 for best animated short !
P.P.S.: And here something to laugh... my favorite... have fun!
P.P.P.S.: Can you imagine how wonderful it would smell here?
P.P.P.P.S.: This is my last post scriptum. But it was fun though (^_^) Ta - ta !
Just a very short " Hi ! " from my side to let you know that I'm still around, well and working (^_^).
Life has been a bit full recently - so I need lots of sleep to assimilate it... ergo: less time to blog.. yeah I know, lame excuse (^_-) ...
By the way: have you seen the movie "Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"? (imdb_sweeney). Strange movie indeed, lots of blood (everything is in black and white and of course the touch of red), very cruel (but it's still a musical !), lots of barber knives, a kind of jack-the-ripper-touch and a truly Tim Burton movie ...and people do look sick, don't they?
Tim Burton really has a problem with black/white and stripes... Did you notice that there's always a stripy thing in his movies - and most favorably on Johnny Depp?
I recommend it but only if you like Tim Burton movies and if you've eaten beforehand.
P.S.: Concerning my last post. The name of this animated short film was "Peter & the Wolf" and it actually won the Academy Award 2008 for best animated short !
P.P.S.: And here something to laugh... my favorite... have fun!
P.P.P.S.: Can you imagine how wonderful it would smell here?
P.P.P.P.S.: This is my last post scriptum. But it was fun though (^_^) Ta - ta !
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