"Pilates" – An exercise method named after Joseph Hubertus Pilates. [No it’s not Asian :-)]
I am extremely glad that I discovered the Pilates "matwork" about 6 months ago, I highly recommend it. Thanks Lesley!
Joseph Pilates was born near Duesseldorf, Germany in 1880, in an area called "Rheinland" ...coincidentally I grew up there, too.
As a child, Pilates apparently suffered from a number of physical ailments including rickets and asthma but was determined to overcome these health problems and began a lifelong dedication to physical fitness. Beginning with gymnastics, body-building and skiing, he also studied eastern training methods such as Yoga and Zen meditation.
Pilates left Germany for England in 1912, where he earned a living in various ways, as a professional boxer, circus performer, teaching self-defense to members of the Scotland Yard, and as a nurse. He continued to develop his exercise method while interned in England during World War I. During this time, he designed exercise apparatus for immobilized patients by attaching springs to hospital beds. This system formed the foundation for his style of body conditioning and specialized exercise apparatus, which he brought to New York City when he opened the first Pilates Studio in 1926.
Pilates still looked amazing at the age of 80.
Monday, May 31, 2004
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Memorial Day
"Memorial Day" – Volkstrauertag.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Today, the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes used 11 minutes of its air-time to display the images of all American soldiers that have died so far during the Iraq war. The underlying music was one of my favorite pieces: Samuel Barber's powerful and emotional Adagio for Strings. It makes you cry.
Andy Rooney said: "Memorial Day was originally dedicated to the soldiers who died in the Civil War. On this Memorial Day, we should certainly honor those who have died at war, but we should dedicate this day, not so much to their memory, but to the search for a way to end the idiocy of the wars that killed them."
Thank you Andy!
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Today, the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes used 11 minutes of its air-time to display the images of all American soldiers that have died so far during the Iraq war. The underlying music was one of my favorite pieces: Samuel Barber's powerful and emotional Adagio for Strings. It makes you cry.
Andy Rooney said: "Memorial Day was originally dedicated to the soldiers who died in the Civil War. On this Memorial Day, we should certainly honor those who have died at war, but we should dedicate this day, not so much to their memory, but to the search for a way to end the idiocy of the wars that killed them."
Thank you Andy!
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Literalness
"Literalness" – Buchstaeblichkeit.
The apparently ever-flexible Alfred Stieglitz wrote after he had changed his mind on publishing his work: “Contradictory? Of course. There are contradictions in everyone truly alive. Yet, contradictions in those truly alive are not, in reality, contradictions at all, if seen in proper relationship to life itself. It is literalness that is contrary to life. Literalness can only be relative, and then it may be alive, so true. Any conclusion is to me a dead thing – unaesthetic, a tombstone. Where there are no contradictions there is no life.”
The apparently ever-flexible Alfred Stieglitz wrote after he had changed his mind on publishing his work: “Contradictory? Of course. There are contradictions in everyone truly alive. Yet, contradictions in those truly alive are not, in reality, contradictions at all, if seen in proper relationship to life itself. It is literalness that is contrary to life. Literalness can only be relative, and then it may be alive, so true. Any conclusion is to me a dead thing – unaesthetic, a tombstone. Where there are no contradictions there is no life.”
Glad-Handing
"Glad-Handing" - Being very friendly to people you have not met before, as a way of trying to get an advantage - political glad-handing. To extend a glad hand to, e.g. presidential hopefuls glad-handing the factory workers.
Stumbled upon while reading an Aperture review of Elliott Erwitt's Flip-o-Rama Italia.
Stumbled upon while reading an Aperture review of Elliott Erwitt's Flip-o-Rama Italia.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
McMansion
"McMansion" - "Durchschnitts-, null-acht-fuenf-zehn, von der Stange"-Haus. See also The Word Spy - McMansion.
I heard that somebody was referring to my neighborhood as: "Ah, it’s where all the McMansions are, right?". While I can’t argue that point totally, I can’t agree 100% either. There is certainly a somewhat mass-produced, cookie-cutter quality to many neighborhoods around here, as opposed to the older, more organically grown neighborhoods you typically find closer to downtown areas, especially in Europe. But you know what: I like the way it’s done here. [Danger: I may be biased here, cognitive dissonance at work? :-)] North of Boston you typically don’t find fenced in community with identical houses in different colors. Well, there is some of that. What you do find are Colonial homes, lots of Colonials in all shapes and colors, but fortunately, the shapes, colors and orientations vary sufficiently to create what I would call charm. Give some of those neighborhoods 10-20 years with more established trees and you will no longer notice that superimposed golden arch.
I heard that somebody was referring to my neighborhood as: "Ah, it’s where all the McMansions are, right?". While I can’t argue that point totally, I can’t agree 100% either. There is certainly a somewhat mass-produced, cookie-cutter quality to many neighborhoods around here, as opposed to the older, more organically grown neighborhoods you typically find closer to downtown areas, especially in Europe. But you know what: I like the way it’s done here. [Danger: I may be biased here, cognitive dissonance at work? :-)] North of Boston you typically don’t find fenced in community with identical houses in different colors. Well, there is some of that. What you do find are Colonial homes, lots of Colonials in all shapes and colors, but fortunately, the shapes, colors and orientations vary sufficiently to create what I would call charm. Give some of those neighborhoods 10-20 years with more established trees and you will no longer notice that superimposed golden arch.
Mini-Culpa
"Mini-Culpa" - Pun based on "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" - Durch meine Schuld, durch meine Schuld, durch meine groesste Schuld (Suendenbekenntnis). Mini-Culpa doesn't require a translation since it works just as well in German... but an interesting story.
The New York Times acknowledged in an extraordinary note to readers yesterday that its reporting on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism was too dependent on unverified claims, by sources of questionable credibility.
Here is the original New York Times note: The Times and Iraq.
The New York Times acknowledged in an extraordinary note to readers yesterday that its reporting on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism was too dependent on unverified claims, by sources of questionable credibility.
Here is the original New York Times note: The Times and Iraq.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Detainee vs. Prisoner
"Detainee" – Haeftling, Strafgefangener.
"Prisoner" - Haeftling, Strafgefangener.
There are no obvious differences when translating detainee and prisoner into German. Yet, Dictionary.com yields subtle differences for these terms:
Detainee: 1. A person held in custody or confinement: a political detainee. 2. Some held in custody.
vs.
Prisoner: 1. A person held in custody, captivity, or a condition of forcible restraint, especially while on trial or serving a prison sentence. 2. A person under arrest, or in custody, whether in prison or not; a person held in involuntary restraint; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a court. 3. A person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war.
Susan Sontag’s essay Regarding the Torture of Others points out the differences.
"Prisoner" - Haeftling, Strafgefangener.
There are no obvious differences when translating detainee and prisoner into German. Yet, Dictionary.com yields subtle differences for these terms:
Detainee: 1. A person held in custody or confinement: a political detainee. 2. Some held in custody.
vs.
Prisoner: 1. A person held in custody, captivity, or a condition of forcible restraint, especially while on trial or serving a prison sentence. 2. A person under arrest, or in custody, whether in prison or not; a person held in involuntary restraint; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a court. 3. A person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war.
Susan Sontag’s essay Regarding the Torture of Others points out the differences.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
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Saturday, May 22, 2004
Decisions, Risk and Danger
"Decisions, Risk And Danger" – Entscheidungen, Risiko und Gefahr.
Today my old friend Jochen and I talked about the decision making process and the distinction of risk and danger.
"An etymological analysis of risk shows that the term has two possible roots. On the one hand, there is the Greek "riza", related to Arab "risc", which stands for divinely given facts, for fate, but also for means of subsistence. On the other hand, there is the Latin or Italian root "risco", which stands for sailing around cliffs. This second root indicates that risks develop through human actions and that they are dangers that could be avoided. This definition has been widely accepted in the sociological literature about risk, and Luhmann (Niklas Luhmann, 1927-1998) therefore calls risk the form in which the future in decisions is made visible and rationalized. Risks are results of actions that are neither necessary nor impossible; they are contingent and depend on human actions.
The character of risk becomes clearer when one contrasts it with the related terms of uncertainty, danger and chance. Uncertainty stands for the fact that we do not know the future, it is uncertain. The contrast between danger and risk is that the former is generally felt to be out of the control of the decision maker whereas the latter can be affected. A corresponding distinction is that risk refers to actions, whereas dangers are objective entities outside of human control. Chance stands for potentially positive developments and is often seen as part of risk. The decider who takes a risk is aware of potential losses but also of potential gains of the decision." - The Limits of Risk Management – A social construction approach, Stahl, Lichtenstein, Mangan.
It can be quite hard to make a decision. At least 2 problems come to mind. There is the problem of information gathering: When has one enough information? Did one invest enough energy to gather sufficient information? Are the sources trustworthy? Can one trust oneself? Then there is the problem of living with one’s decision. The fear of making the wrong decision can be truly paralyzing. But one has to move on. Sometimes, once a decision was finally made, reality gets bent in order to live with one’s decision. Cognitive dissonance.
That’s why it’s good to double-check.
That’s why it’s good to have friends.
That’s why it’s good to take time.
That’s why it’s good to collaborate.
That’s why some may consider this administration a dissonant and not a harmonic chord, within the diatonic scale and any other scale. Remember, there are other scales.
Today my old friend Jochen and I talked about the decision making process and the distinction of risk and danger.
"An etymological analysis of risk shows that the term has two possible roots. On the one hand, there is the Greek "riza", related to Arab "risc", which stands for divinely given facts, for fate, but also for means of subsistence. On the other hand, there is the Latin or Italian root "risco", which stands for sailing around cliffs. This second root indicates that risks develop through human actions and that they are dangers that could be avoided. This definition has been widely accepted in the sociological literature about risk, and Luhmann (Niklas Luhmann, 1927-1998) therefore calls risk the form in which the future in decisions is made visible and rationalized. Risks are results of actions that are neither necessary nor impossible; they are contingent and depend on human actions.
The character of risk becomes clearer when one contrasts it with the related terms of uncertainty, danger and chance. Uncertainty stands for the fact that we do not know the future, it is uncertain. The contrast between danger and risk is that the former is generally felt to be out of the control of the decision maker whereas the latter can be affected. A corresponding distinction is that risk refers to actions, whereas dangers are objective entities outside of human control. Chance stands for potentially positive developments and is often seen as part of risk. The decider who takes a risk is aware of potential losses but also of potential gains of the decision." - The Limits of Risk Management – A social construction approach, Stahl, Lichtenstein, Mangan.
It can be quite hard to make a decision. At least 2 problems come to mind. There is the problem of information gathering: When has one enough information? Did one invest enough energy to gather sufficient information? Are the sources trustworthy? Can one trust oneself? Then there is the problem of living with one’s decision. The fear of making the wrong decision can be truly paralyzing. But one has to move on. Sometimes, once a decision was finally made, reality gets bent in order to live with one’s decision. Cognitive dissonance.
That’s why it’s good to double-check.
That’s why it’s good to have friends.
That’s why it’s good to take time.
That’s why it’s good to collaborate.
That’s why some may consider this administration a dissonant and not a harmonic chord, within the diatonic scale and any other scale. Remember, there are other scales.
Friday, May 21, 2004
Insidious
"Insidious" – heimtueckisch, hinterlistig. Some bugs require elaborate setups in order to track them down. Today we had to remote debug an Explorer process that housed a failing ShellExtension, which only failed when it was installed by and coexisted with an automation agent. A very insidious bug.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Abstain
"Abstain" – Sich der Stimme enthalten. An important concept. I discovered this one in an unexpected place; while inspecting XML properties of a software automation script.
Given the current state of the world, I truly hope that no potential voters abstain from voting this November.
Given the current state of the world, I truly hope that no potential voters abstain from voting this November.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Wak-A-Mole
"Wak-A-Mole" - Hau' einen Maulwurf. This seems to be a game where players hit moles with a mallet? I have never seen it, but noticed this term as a description used by software engineers to characterize a UI that makes it difficult for users to make a selection due to moving targets.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Too Bad
A second opinion on Leica's Digilux 2. I can't wait to here about Leica's next attempt. Why am I mentioning this here? I enjoyed Ben Lifson’s use of language and I am following Leica’s endeavors to enter the digital world. A digital M would be, in a word, lovely.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
OK, Here’s An Idea
This blog is about words, terms, phrases and idioms I have looked up, or looked up again. I will add some background/context as to how I was confronted with a specific "piece of language", that is, the way I discovered it. Language, or the lack thereof, sometimes feels like a relentless confrontation that uncovers one’s limitations or one’s power, a journey and learning process that never stops.
Of course there may be the occasional picture, rant and random pontification. Let’s see where this goes…
So, here’s one: "frame of reference" – Bezugssystem, found while reading PhotoRant, which I was led to while reading my latest blog discovery Conscientious, a wonderful photography blog.
Of course there may be the occasional picture, rant and random pontification. Let’s see where this goes…
So, here’s one: "frame of reference" – Bezugssystem, found while reading PhotoRant, which I was led to while reading my latest blog discovery Conscientious, a wonderful photography blog.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
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