German Language Help

"To guess the English word for an unknown German word, replace German T with D; Z or SS with T; D with TH; EI with O or I; AU with EE or EA; CH with CK or CH; B with F or V; PF with P; and SCH as the first letters of a word with S. The German word PFLANZ becomes plant; ZWEI becomes two."

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Britzer Garten, Berlin

Britzer Garten, Berlin
Originally uploaded by snooker68

Sunday was a perfectly lovely day for a winter's walk through the Britzer Garten in Berlin!
The weather was perfect, sunny skies and no wind. See the entire set of pics here.

On Being Nice To Your Fellow Man... or Woman

This morning N. and I were standing on the subway together. We don't normally travel together often, but today she was heading the same direction at the same time and it just worked out.

The train was full enough that we and several others had to stand. N. leaned down towards my ear and in a conspiratorial tone mentioned that the mid-40's woman standing opposite us would probably appreciate knowing that the lowest two buttons on her business attire blouse was open, exposing her belly button and a bit of "extra" around it. To me it was fairly evident that she didn't plan on this "wardrobe malfunction", but she was just big enough and the winter coat was bulky enough that I assumed she wouldn't readily realize her possibly embarrassing situation.

Our ensuing conversation went something like this:

S: Maybe we should tell her.
N: Maybe she wants it that way.

S: No way she wants to let her belly button hang out.
N: I just hope she goes directly to the toilet when she gets to the office.

S: You don't think she could unbutton the pants without noticing her belly button exposure?
N: I don't know, but women check themselves in the mirror.

S: What if the office mirror doesn't reflect down to the waist?
N: (Shoulder shrug - well, at least with one shoulder, the other still can't move due to last month's surgery)
N: You just don't do that... you just don't

At this point I made the decision that if the nice business lady met my eyes, I would with my hands silently indicate my own shirt button and nod my head towards this woman's exposed bellybutton... even though I now know that "WE" just don't do that. I simply know that I would appreciate a stranger's kindness if my bellybutton were so blatantly exposing itself to the world.

Soon the opportunity arrived, the woman scanned over my direction (probably because she's noticed that I'm staring at her - funny how it is so easy to sense that, and so hard to ignore it). I began to make my motions and N. (in her N. way - by leaning in close and giving me that look) let me know that I was breaking the rules of subway etiquette... Never engage with anyone else on the Berlin subways. Maybe it should be in the list of rules on the graffiti covered walls, or on one of the promotional videos they show... "Be nice to your fellow passenger - when entering the train stand aside as the others disembark, but never look them in the eye. Thus I was interrupted in my demonstration of her exposed belly button, and the lady continued her scan, eventually looking away from me... probably thinking that I'm crazy.

N: Don't do that! - with BIG eyes
S: Why not? - from between my teeth
N: Because it's just not done! -- with the air of finality that says the conversation is closed

OK, so "it's just not done".
But, I really feel that it isn't such a horrible thing... that I would appreciate it if someone did the same for me. 3 awkward seconds with a stranger I'll never see again, or possibly 8 hours of embarrassment with 30 co-workers that I see every day... hmmm... let me think.

So the question... is it the right thing to do to intervene in a "wardrobe malfunction"?
Even with a stranger? Even on public transport?
Is this a cultural thing? Do I feel compelled to do this because I'm American?
Is it just a big city thing?

Andrew Olmstead

Major Andrew Olmstead, a US soldier and blogger, was killed in action January 3rd.

Unfortunately I didn't stumble upon his blog before his death, because the 15 or so entries I've read are insightful, thoughtful and delightful. I'm sure I will enjoy the rest of them as much as I have these few.

Here is an excerpt from his final blog entry, (I highly suggest the read) written just in case he didn't make it back home:

"As a soldier, I have a duty to obey the orders of the President of the United States as long as they are Constitutional. I can no more opt out of missions I disagree with than I can ignore laws I think are improper. I do not consider it a violation of my individual rights to have gone to Iraq on orders because I raised my right hand and volunteered to join the army. Whether or not this mission was a good one, my participation in it was an affirmation of something I consider quite necessary to society. So if nothing else, I gave my life for a pretty important principle; I can (if you'll pardon the pun) live with that."

My thoughts are with his family, because even though he died doing what he loved, it still is painful for those he left behind. Let's also not forget his readers, who I am certain will miss him.

It is a fitting final tribute to this patriot that because of his untimely death and the attention it has received, more people will read his blogs with their positive message about the war in Iraq.

8-Track Memories

Today I listened to one of my lifetime favorite albums and it took me down a music media memory lane of sorts. This album goes back so far with me that I've now owned it in five different mediums. First came the archaic 8-track, then an LP, on to a cassette tape for portability and eventually a CD... now I listen to it on my Zen mp3 player.

It started way back in 1978 when I inherited about ten 8-track tapes as my brother "moved on" in his musical tastes. The album (yes kids, we called them albums - not CD's) I enjoyed the most was Rockin' Rod Stewart's 1977 effort, "Foot Loose & Fancy Free". It came out before "Blondes Have More Fun" which gave us the "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" disco hit. Nah, foot loose was more of a rock offering with songs like "Hot Legs" and "Born Loose". Added to those wanna be rock songs were rock ballad remake of "If Loving You is Wrong - I Don't Wanna Be Right", and funky bass heavy "You're Insane".

All of those songs were OK in their own right, but I really wanted to hear my favorite songs... "You're In My Heart" was a love song that twisted me inside and out when I could only guess what the emotion was all about... (I was all of 10 years old at the time). The songs "I Was Only Joking" and "You Got a Nerve" were all about when love goes wrong, and I learned the other side of the scary emotion from listening to them.

I remember my first guitar lesson as I almost jumped out of my chair when the teacher told me that I could bring in music and he would teach me. I knew immediately that I wanted to learn the riffs from the beginning and middle of "I Was Only Joking"... knowing this one song would make learning how to read music worth all the effort. I took a recording (cassette by this time) to my teacher saw the relief on his face when the song started. I asked him what that was all about and he said that he was ecstatic that someone wanted to learn a song other than Led Zepplin's "Stairway To Heaven".

For those people lucky enough to have experienced the 8-track you will remember that they had their good and bad points... for me, they were mostly bad. The good point was that it was an endless loop and would play forever... nice if you didn't want to have to get up and switch out your music.

Regrettably the bad points were many. The tapes themselves were 1/4 inch tape separated into 8 tracks which were spliced together by a little foil piece. When the machine would "read" this splice it would move the head so that it could play the next track. Unfortunately not every album could be timed to put this splice between songs, and frequently the volume on the song would slowly be reduced to dead air, then the player would make a loud THUNK as it changed tracks then the music would slowly come back on, eventually back to full loudness. This track change is so deeply ingrained in me for this particular album that right before the last chorus of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" I still expect the sound to go down and the track change to occur. There were countless times that I was drifting off to sleep to my favorite music only to be rudely interrupted by that ever-present THUNK which of course completely disturbed all thoughts of dreamland.

Another crappy aspect was that you couldn't simply forward to a particular song, or even really pick what song you wanted to hear above all others. It was impossible to play and replay your favorite without at least hearing all the songs before it on that one track. On top of these horrible aspects was the fact that the 8-track itself was a flimsy piece of equipment and the players were rather complex and prone to "eating" tape after tape.

There were about twenty-five of these tapes that shaped my youth, some of them bit the dust early, I remember considering Hari Kari when "Frampton Comes Alive" ate the big one. Slowly they were all replaced by LP's or cassette tapes... both were simply easier to operate, it wasn't really because I didn't like the medium. In 1983 Billy Joel's "The Stranger" killed not only the tape but the player on my Hi-Fi leading me to give up on the 8-track system completely. Of course that meant that I had to go out and buy the LP, starting another long line of ownership (hmm... note to self, get the Billy CD's out for a listen).

Are you old enough to remember your favorite tape being eaten by your player?
Have you ever ridden in a car with an in-dash 8-track?
Do you even remember 8-tracks?
If so, what was your favorite?

Reggie Watts - "Out of Control"

WOW!
Get your speakers turned up and check out the video below.
Reggie Watts is simply a musically talented guy.
With just a digital sampler attached to an audio system the guy works magic!
Here is his website, and of course he's on MySpace.


Reggie Watts: Out Of Control from Jakob Lodwick on Vimeo.

You Can Tell A Lot About a Person...

My Mother always used to say that you could tell a lot about a person by how they handle toilet paper. No, she didn't mean the act of wiping... simply the act of kindness that is changing out an empty roll.

She told me once that you should never settle down with someone who would leave you an empty roll. The reasoning is simple, if they won't consider your needs/feelings/requirements in the most simple of places, will they consider you in other areas at all?

It was her idea to reserve a special place in H E double hockey sticks for a person that would use the last of the roll and leave no backup roll anywhere within reach.

Throughout my life I have held this very interesting thought process close to my heart. When I would run across people that have less than stellar bathroom manners, I've done my best to steer clear of them. You know what, Mom is right! Those people with thoughtless behavior in the bathroom end up being the same ones that will shit on you in life (figuratively of course).

Case in point. I know a woman who is generally in this game called life only to serve herself. Although thankfully I've never been on the receiving end of her "crappy" behavior (sorry, couldn't resist), I recently found myself hit squarely in the face with her less than thoughtful bathroom etiquette.

The restroom in our area has two "closets" for the ladies, and I was waiting in line to get into the first one available. As the door burst open I saw immediately that it was the aforementioned person in all of her whooshing glory. I say whooshing because she doesn't walk so much as glide wherever she goes... reminding me a bit of Cruella DeVille.

My first thought was, "I wonder what she thinks about having to share the "john" with the little people?" Don't get me wrong... she really isn't any better than others in the office... she isn't really higher in the hierarchy than many... she just has that air about her that lets you know that you are considered one of the little people.

The other toilet room was still being used, so I nodded at Cruella after her acknowledgment of my existence, and worked my way into the recently vacated room. It is always my habit to check the status of toilet paper before sitting down (I've been burned a time or two). On this day my routine worked out for the best because I saw immediately that Miss de Ville had left not only no paper on the roll... but there was no paper on the "backup post" which normally holds two rolls. Even more ironic was that there was a completely new, unopened package of toilet paper sitting in its customary location on the top of the cabinet in the room.

Anyone ON the toilet could probably stretch over to the cabinet and grab a new paper roll of course... but that is not the point... the point is that a normal person using the last of the roll would hopefully consider the others around her... In this case it was once again proven that Mom was right.

So now you can ask yourself...
How are your bathroom manners?
What about the ones you love?

The Year in Review

I've waited all year for it, and it has finally arrived... Dave Barry's Year in Review.
Below are a few excerpts that made me giggle uncontrollably, but I suggest that you read the whole thing.

BTW, Dave Barry is, once again, running for President of the United States. If you're sick of our other (likely) choices, consider Dave.

"the broadcasting industry is shocked, shocked, when radio personality Don Imus, who has spent several decades making and chuckling at crude racist statements, makes a crude racist statement about the Rutgers women's basketball team. The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are deeply offended and immediately set about the difficult but necessary work of drawing still more attention to themselves."

"In entertainment news, author J.K. Rowling surprises fans of the Harry Potter series when she reveals that Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School, was also, secretly, a United States senator from Idaho."

"In economic news, the Federal Reserve Board, responding to recession fears and the continued weakening of the dollar, votes unanimously to be paid in euros."