Sunday, August 15, 2004

Tupper Hall

"Tupper Hall" - Tupper Halle.

I had a chance to visit Tupper Hall today. It's located on the Endicott College campus in Beverly, MA. What a gorgeous place to go to school! The Fach-Hochschule Juelich in Juelich was not quite the same.

The Hall has a small library with a number of beautiful old books, I am not exactly sure why, but I like to take pictures of old books.





Saturday, August 14, 2004

Hobby

"Hobby" - Hobby, Liebhaberei, Steckenpferd.

President George W. Bush was asked on Larry King Live what he was doing during the 7 minutes after he was told that the country was under attack. Mr. Bush answered: "I was collecting my thoughts." Boy, what a time to pickup a new hobby. - Bill Maher

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Electoral College

"Electoral College" - Wahlmänner-Gremium.

Follow the Kerry-Bush race using the Electoral Vote Predictor 2004, which tracks the electoral vote state by state. In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote by over half a million votes but George Bush won the electoral vote by 5 votes and became president. Thus watching the electoral vote is more important than watching the national polls. The Electoral Vote Predictor is dedicated to tracking the electoral vote by examining the state-by-state polls. As new state polls are released, the maps, spreadsheets, and tables will be updated.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Reform Logjam

"Reform Logjam" - Reformstau.

Germans are, by reputation, averse to change. But once in a while we enjoy a lively debate about why change is necessary and why, nevertheless, change isn't coming. To facilitate discussion, we even coined an expression for stalling-on-much-needed-reforms, "Reformstau", or "reform logjam." More...

Wörter und Unwörter des Jahres.

On a related note, the large media group Axel Springer Verlag (Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung) announced they would abandon the "simplified" orthography.

Procrastinate

"Procrastinate" - Aufschieben, zoegern, zaudern.

"Procrastinate now, don’t put it off." - Ellen Degeneres.

Monday, August 09, 2004

Root Canal Treatment

"Root Canal Treatment" - Wurzelbehandlung [Zahnmedizin].

2 hours and 15 minutes in a dentist's chair. Yummy.

Sunday, August 08, 2004

Eggs & Sausage

"Eggs & Sausage" - Eier und Wuerstchen.

Sometimes I go to Stephy's Kitchen, to me, the ultimate American experience, where you sit at the bar, the coffee is thinner than thin, the waitresses have that sparkly nail polish and address you with Hon', the buzz boy (women) has that chain-smoker's raspy voice, the chef wears a baseball cap... and the cheese omelets are out of this world!

Every time I hear it, Tom Waits' song "Eggs & Sausage" reminds me of this piece of Americana:

------

Nighthawks at the diner
of Emma's 49er, there's a rendezvous
of strangers around the coffee urn tonight
all the gypsy hacks, the insomniacs
now the paper's been read
now the waitress said

Eggs and sausage and a side of toast
coffee and a roll, hash browns over easy
chile in a bowl with burgers and fries
what kind of pie?

In a graveyard charade, a late shift masquerade
2 for a quarter, dime for a dance
with Woolworth rhinestone diamond
earrings, and a sideway's glance
and now the register rings
and now the waitress sings

(chorus)

The classified section offered no direction
it's a cold caffeine in a nicotine cloud
now the touch of your fingers
lingers burning in my memory
I've been 86ed from your scheme
I'm in a melodramatic nocturnal scene
I'm a refugee from a disconcerted affair
as the lead pipe morning falls
and the waitress calls

(chorus)

-----

I haven't figured out what he means by "2 for a quarter, dime for a dance" and "the lead pipe morning falls", but nevertheless, I love this song and my occasional lonely breakfast at Stephy's.

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Decisive

"Decisive" - Entscheidend, ausschlaggebend, bestimmend, massgeblich.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the great photographers of the 20th century, has died at the age of 95. The The New York Times and NPR have related stories.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Abhorrent

"Abhorrent" - verhasst, zuwieder, abscheulich, abstossend.

One could get the impression that Ron Reagan doesn't like George W. Bush: The Case Against George W. Bush.

Yesterday I happened to see Ted Turner on Charlie Rose’s PBS show. He was of the opinion that, thanks to the Bush administration, it will take at least 30 years to repair the damaged US image within the international community, including former close allies.

Today we find out that the new terror alerts that had been declared last Sunday are based on 3 year old information. What is one supposed to do about it?