Reign of Witches

"Reign of Witches" - Regentschaft der Hexen.

Barbra Streisand shares this quote from Thomas Jefferson: "A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt......If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."

Immaculate Conception

"Immaculate Conception" - Unbefleckte Empfängnis (der Jungfrau Maria).

More interesting poll results, a Newsweek poll finds that 79% of Americans believe in the immaculate conception.

Foundation

"Foundation" - Grundlage, Fundament, Basis; Stiftung.

I visited the Langen Foundation (Raketenstation Hombroich) in Neuss, Germany this October. Highly recommended! It's a treat for your spatial senses. Go visit.

Creationism

"Creationism" - Kreationismus; auf einer wörtlichen Interpretation der Bibel basierende Weltentstehungslehre.

Here are some very interesting poll results.

Quotidian Meander

"Quotidian Meander" - Alltaegliche Irrwege, Windungen, Maeander.

It seems Mike Johnston needed another outlet: The Quotidian Meander. Enjoy!

Quote Of The Day

"Quote Of The Day" - Zitat des Tages.

Quote I: "In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work. You know my hardest, the hardest part of the job is to know that I committed the troops in harm's way and then do the best I can to provide comfort for the loves ones who lost a son or a daughter or husband and wife." - president George W. Bush reassuring us that he's on top of things in Iraq.

Quote II: "No matter how you feel about Bush, watching him speak is difficult. It’s like watching a drunk man cross an icy street." - Tucker Carlson, on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Thanks to The Daily Dish.

30 Days, 2,368 Attacks

"30 Days, 2,368 Attacks" - 30 Tage, 2.368 Angriffe.

More...

Casualties

"Casualties" - Verluste, Todesfaelle.

Phantasmagoric

"Phantasmagoric" - Fantastisch, traumhaft, truegbildnerisch.

I visited a Josef Sudek exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston today. Sudek's close friend and Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert described Sudek's studio as a "phantasmagoric mess". I particularly liked his pictures from within, around and through his studio windows. Highly recommended.

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.

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

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.

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.

Root Canal Treatment

"Root Canal Treatment" - Wurzelbehandlung [Zahnmedizin].

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

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.

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.

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?

Synopsis

"Synopsis" - Abriss, Exposé, Inhaltsangabe, Zusammenfassung.

Here are two more reviews of Michael Moore's movie Fahrenheit 9/11 worth reading: Is It All Just a Dream? and Moores vereinfachte Welt.

ECT

"ECT, Electroconvulsive Therapy, Shock Treatment" – EKT, Elektrokrampftherapie, Schocktherapie.

For D. All the best!

Hike

"Hike" - Wanderung.



I hiked Mount Chocorua with Hui Yeng, Tom, Davor and Max (Davor's dog) today. A great trip and wonderful experience! However, hiking with pros like Tom and Hui Yeng is tough. Their pace and endurance is amazing. The hike is typically scheduled for approximately 6 hours, yet we climbed the mountain in 2 hours and 15 minutes (including photo breaks) and went down in about 1.5 hours. That was FAST, at least for me. Plus, I definitely carried a lot of stuff:

General gear: 

• Water (2 Liters)
• Food (Sandwich, Trail Mix, Power Bars, Nuts)
• Map
• Rain Clothes
• Bug Spray
• Band Aids
• Advil, Tylenol
• Matches
• Knife
• Cell Phone

Photo Equipment: 

• SLR Camera
• 2 Lenses (incl. Hoods)
• Memory Cards
• Batteries
• Cleaning Air Brush and Cloth
• Small Towel
• Plastic Bag

Since I am a novice hiker I figured better save than sorry.
But hey, it was worth it:

Hitler’s Pawn

"Hitler’s Pawn" - Hitler's Bauer. Die Schachfigur Gretel Bergmann.

What a story. Highly recommended! More.

Hiatus

"Hiatus" - Luecke; Unterbrechung; Sendepause.

I just saw Bill Maher on Larry King Live again. It's always very stimulating to hear him and I am glad that his show will resume on July 30th. Although I don't agree with all of his views, he wouldn't want me to anyway, I consider him a beacon for free speech and a voice of reason, at least throughout the last 3 years.

The Now Defunct Iron Curtain

"The Now Defunct Iron Curtain" - Der nicht mehr bestehende eiserne Vorhang.

"The abrupt conflict in Brian Rose's subjects between an older world, sometimes rural and sometimes urban, and the brutal political division imposed on it is not only historically important but, in Rose's hands, a wonderful subject for the camera." His project The Lost Border is a must see. (Through Conscientious.)

Saccharine, Innocuous Fluff

"Saccharine, Innocuous Fluff" - Zuckersuesses, harmloses Zeug ohne Tiefgang.

The Comcast on-screen program guide can be quite annoying because of its unintuitive UI and its speed, or rather, the lack thereof. Nevertheless, I have to give Comcast credit for being not only positive and in "selling mode" when it comes to their short descriptions in the movie info sections. The other day the synopsis for a schmaltzy teenager romance started with "Saccharine, innocuous fluff...". Hey, at least their honest.

Polaroid

"Polaroid (camera)" - Polaroid (Kamera), Sofortbild (Kamera).

There is something special about Polaroids. The medium seems to have an immanent charm and enchantment. The square image area and the naturally asymmetric frame add a finishing touch. The colors lend a surreal quality. I have seen many pictures that probably would have been boring if they hadn’t been taken with a Polaroid camera.

Combine Polaroid idiosyncrasies and photographic talent and you end up with art. Here’s a visual diary created by an American currently living in Germany which should illustrate my point. So much to explore...

This one is fake... and obviously not art:

Immortality

"Immortality" – Unsterblichkeit.

Since I consider the average life expectancy of about 75 years pretty limiting this may be good news: "Immortality is just around the corner, says technologist Ray Kurzweil. All you need to do to achieve it is hang on until the wonder of life-extending technologies such as self-repairing nanobots and therapeutic-cloning take hold. With any luck, Kurzweil says, it may be just a matter of decades, not centuries, before the human lifespan becomes infinite."
Well, his synthesizers were pretty good… but I certainly don’t want to be a bork. Please try again.

WBUR vs. KQED

WBUR vs. KQED - East and West of the Mississippi.

By today's standards, the continued emphasis in the United States on call signs for radio stations is something of an anachronism; most other countries have switched to slogans or network IDs for establishing public identities. I certainly was not used to such naming schemes and it took me a while to recognize some of the patterns. Here is a very detailed summary: The Mystique of the Three-Letter Callsigns.

Culmination

"Culmination" – Kulmination, Hoehepunkt, hoechster Stand.

Groove v3.0 is the current culmination of a long journey and of what collaboration software can and should be. I am proud of it. It’s "under the button" since 11:30 p.m. last night. We are officially announcing Groove Virtual Office v3.0 this morning.

Here are the press releases targeting the markets: Fortune 1000 Enterprises, Public Sector, and Small Business; and fourth a technology backgrounder on Folder Synchronization.

German coverage:
Groove Networks veröffentlicht Groove Virtual Office 3.0
Neues Arbeitsgruppen Tool von Groove Networks

Out Of Service

"Out of service" - Ausser Betrieb.

Beverly Fire Station.

The city of Beverly should have ample tax revenue. I'd like to find out why this is happening.

Sketchy

"Sketchy" - Vage, unklar, skizzenhaft, unzureichend, lueckenhaft, oberflaechlich.

On Point : Report on Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq: "The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee released a report today alleging that prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, CIA had only sketchy information about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and then overplayed that information to conclude that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in fact possessed them."

It's also interesting to note that the panel consists of 9 Republicans and 8 Democrats.

Prides Crossing

No translation today, but I thought the pun of "Prides Crossing" and "Democrats & Republicans" was worth mentioning.



Prides Crossing, MA, Train Station.

I'd love to provide more information on Prides Crossing, MA, but I am afraid the best I can do is provide a map and point out that the people of my lovely neighboring community seem to have a good sense of humor.

Odious

"Odious" - Abscheulich, Verhasst.

Mike Johnston's writing is inconsistent, not in terms of his views, perspectives or opinions but in regards to the quality of his SMP essays. Some of them, and there are many, are a delight to read, others seem incoherent and pointless. He is often grouchy and curmudgeonous (Is that a word?), but also incredibly witty, very insightful and plain funny, and, I typically have to lookup tons of terms while reading his columns. That's one of the reasons why I like his work so much, he really enriches my vocabulary. He constantly apologizes for the delays of his columns, his upcoming book or his newsletters, but when one of his better ones comes around it really sweetens my Sunday morning. And I do admit, I always check, unfortunately now on a monthly schedule. If you're still unsure: This really is praise.

Here is his latest SMP (The Sunday Morning Photographer. A monthly photo.net column posted on the first Sunday of every month.): Comparisons and the Odious: Fakery, Actual and Conceptual. It's one of the better ones. I will have to subscribe to his newsletter in order to dive deeper and do him justice.

To Refrain From

"To refrain from" - Etwas unterlassen, von etwas Abstand nehmen.

I was able to get just this one shot before I was asked to refrain from taking pictures in the Marblehead town hall today. The fact that I wasn't using a flash wasn't sufficient to change the guard's mind. He argued that I could attract other photographers that would use a flash. Too bad, but I respected his request.

Histogram

"Histogram" - Histogramm, Balkendiagramm.

There really is no such thing as a bad histogram. They just are.

Here's a excellent, concise tutorial on how to read a histogram within the world of digital photography.

Ain

Ain - Eigene, Eigenes; Persoenliches.

"You Will Be My Ain True Love"

You'll walk unscathed through musket fire,
No ploughman's blade will cut thee down,
No cutlass pull will mark thy face,
And you will be my ain true love,
And you will be my ain true love

And as you walk through death's dark vale,
The cannon's thunder can't prevail,
And those who hunt thee down will fail,
And you will be my ain true love,
And you will be my ain true love.

Asleep inside the cannon's mouth,
The captain cries, "Here comes the rout,"
They'll seek to find me north and south,
I've gone to find my ain true love.

The field is cut and bleeds too red,
The cannon balls fly round my head,
The infirmary man may count me dead,
When I've gone to find my ain true love,
I've gone to find my ain true love.

This song was performed by Alison Krauss and written by Sting for the Cold Mountain soundtrack. Gorgeous.

Iconoclastic

"Iconoclastic" - Bilderstuermerisch.

More perspectives on "Fahrenheit 9/11": On Point : Fury over "Fahrenheit 9/11".

Spoiling It

"Spoiling It" – Etwas verderben.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day here north of Boston. The temperature was around 25 degrees, a nice breeze carried a light sea scent, puffy white clouds scattered an otherwise perfectly blue sky, a day where you need to be outside. I did spent the morning outside with exercising and some work around the house and my plan for the afternoon was to see Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. I was afraid of spoiling the day and mood with, what I expected to be, a very sobering movie. While my frame of mind right after the movie did remind me of how I felt in March 2003 at the time of the invasion: extremely uncomfortable, angry, and in disbelieve, I also felt wide awake, very much alive and glad that such expressions of opinion are able to exist and that they are able to attract such a huge audience. Despite the beautiful day, the theater was completely packed at 4:00 in the afternoon.

By and large I agree with this New York Times review, "...while Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" will be properly debated on the basis of its factual claims and cinematic techniques, it should first of all be appreciated as a high-spirited and unruly exercise in democratic self-expression. Mixing sober outrage with mischievous humor and blithely trampling the boundary between documentary and demagoguery, Mr. Moore takes wholesale aim at the Bush administration, whose tenure has been distinguished, in his view, by unparalleled and unmitigated arrogance, mendacity and incompetence."

I highly recommend seeing the movie and I am glad that such self-expression is still possible. Not a spoiled day at all, a very good day.

Scorching

"Scorching" - Brennend, Stechend, Gluehend, Beissend.
Fahrenheit 9/11 opens today nationwide in the US. I can't wait to see it.

Busted

"Busted" - Aufgeflogen, Ruiniert.
Attorney Bert P. Krages has published "The Photographer's Right"-guide on what one can and cannot legally do as a photographer.

Multilingual

"Multilingual" - Mehrsprachig.
The Modern Language Association has a cool interactive map that lets you pick a state and a language to map out the density of speakers in the selected region.

Outrage

"Outrage" - Empoerung.
Senate endorses ban on war dead coverage. "It's an outrage," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who had sponsored legislation to restore coverage of homecoming ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
I do not understand how unidentifiable coffins could possibly violate anybody's privacy.

Perpetual Motion Machine

"Perpetual Motion Machine" - Perpetuum Mobile, scheinbar von selbst laufende Maschine.
Perpetual motion machines are a class of hypothetical machines which produce useful energy "from nowhere." The existence of a perpetual motion machine is generally accepted as being impossible according to current known laws of physics.
Nevertheless, Bela Fleck describes the banjo as kind of a perpetual motion machine. Hearing him play almost makes one believe it.

Constitution

"Constitution" - Verfassung.
European leaders struck a deal yesterday on a European constitution, the latest step in the gradual but creaking process toward a more united Continent. Let's see what happens until 2007.

Getting Out Of Dodge

"Getting Out Of Dodge" - Aus einem ueblen Ort oder einer schlechten Situation abhauen.
Dodge City, Kansas, was once a very dangerous place to live, therefore the phrase "Get the hell out of Dodge" was coined.
Given the current events you can probably imagine why I heard this expression being used today.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

"Should Have, Could Have, Would Have" - Hättste, Wennste, Könnste.

I should have started this project much earlier. About 10 years ago I started to write down pretty much every English term I had to lookup. I am still maintaining this list in a Word document which now contains about 2500 words, phrases and idioms. Unfortunately, at some point I, that is, my pedantic self, ordered all words alphabetically which I shouldn’t have done. The chronological order would have been so much more interesting, like a trail through my life. Oh well, too late. About 2 years ago I realized my mistake and from then on the chronology is preserved. I may revisit some of my notes for this project. Obviously not all lookups would have deserved to be mentioned here but I am sure there could have been some stories worth sharing.
Now, in addition to private diaries and vocabulary lists, we live in a world of blogs, public writings in reverse chronological order... let’s see how long I can keep this up. I really should...

Standstill

"Standstill" - Stillstand.

Barber and Shoe Repair Shop, Hamilton, MA.

I took this picture today on my way home after work. It is truly fascinating how time seems to stand still in some Massachusetts towns.

Sheer Beauty

"Sheer Beauty" - Reinste Schoenheit. More beautiful daguerreotypes can be found here and here. Amongst others there are galleries of Massachusetts and European daguerreotypes.

Pledge of Allegiance

"Pledge of Allegiance" - Loyalitaetgeloebnis. 8 Justices Block Effort to Excise Phrase in Pledge. An inconclusive decision by the Supreme Court on Monday left "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance while keeping the issue alive for possible resolution in a future case.

BOSU Ball

"BOSU Ball" – Short for "both sides up". If you have been doing Pilates for quite some time and think you’ve got it... try doing some of the exercises on a BOSU ball. It’s quite humbling.

Bilingual

"Bilingual" - Zweisprachig. Being bilingual may keep your mind young. Juggling two languages can apparently slow mental decline. I am counting on that.

Daguerreotype

"Daguerreotype" - Daguerreotypie. I stumbled over a very interesting book about the portrait and Civil War photographer/producer Mathew Brady. To be continued...

In The Same Vein

"In The Same Vein" - In diesem Zusammenhang.
NPR today: In the early 1980's it was apparently proposed classifying ketchup as a vegetable as part of Reagan's budget cuts for federally financed school lunch programs. In the same vein... there is a new hair color, it is called "bald".

As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls

"As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls" – I don’t think there is a meaningful translation for this pun. I am assuming that it’s simply toying with the names of the Texan town Wichita Falls and the nearby Wichita River. I could be wrong...

The view from my office window is interesting, in a "principles of turn of the century industrial design"-kind of way. There is the stark concrete surface of the inner Cummings Center facade combined with distant plain roofs and fronts of single and multi family homes embedded in trees. However, more importantly, at times there are sounds, beautiful sounds! Sometimes, in the morning you can hear the distant playing and screaming of children echoing from a downstairs childcare facility. The sounds resemble exactly what Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays captured on their marvelous record As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls at the end of the title song. Beautiful!

Creeping Restrictions

"Creeping Restrictions" - Schleichende Beschraenkungen.

Proposed ban on photography on New York City Transit ...just another example of creeping restrictions that are being imposed on photography in the name of "security".

Uncalled-for

"Uncalled-for" – Unerbeten, fehl am Platze sein.

Sometimes fellow human beings make uncalled-for remarks or bad jokes that can be very disappointing, hurtful or simply annoying. Try to live with a mantra in your life, and that is, to not simply swallow and not vent when somebody or something is irritating, frustrating or insulting. Do vent! Politely and to the point, sprinkle in some humor if you can and if you feel like it. Do it. Venting certainly does not come naturally to people who fall into the more quiet and less combative personality category. But nevertheless, work on it. Vent. It helps.

Horticultural

"Horticultural" - Gartenbau, gaertnerisch.

I finally started a gallery for my beloved Long Hill - Sedgwick Gardens. I highly recommend a visit of the estate, go during any season.

Blowhard

"Blowhard" - Prahlhans, Angeber, Aufschneider. When I first heard this word I think I somewhat anticipated its meaning, as in to be a very boastful and talkative person, but thought that it was "blow hard", as in, metaphorically speaking, pumping oneself up in order to be bigger like cocks do for instance. Maybe that's where its roots are, I couldn't find more information. Anyway, it is a handy term to have in one’s repertoire since I am frequently amazed by people that are so very sure about their matters and like to show off. So, I am looking forward to the moment that will allow me to sprinkle in a casual: "Oh, don’t be such a blowhard."
Obviously it will depend upon who I am talking to. More likely, I will stand there, politely, ever so slightly nodding my head, smiling, being agreeable… I apparently have entered babbling territory, it's too late.

S.H.I.T.

"Shit" - Scheisse. Much more clear, plain, unique, obvious, explicit, definitive, clear-cut, straightforward, unambiguous than ornery, and no, it does NOT derive from "Ship High In Transit", as one may find in ever-growing Netlore eMails. See here or here for clarification. Thanks Steve.

Ornery

"Ornery" – Gewoehnlich as in "ordinary", or boese as in "mean", or uebel-gelaunt as in "disagreeable", or streitsuechtig as in "cantankerous" or... the list goes on.

I discussed the meaning of this word with a native-speaking coworker without reaching a clear conclusion. It is one of those words, like many, many others, I can’t quite get a handle on. Many terms are so multi-dimensional and highly context-specific. It can drive you nuts.

Lensbaby

"Lensbaby" - Translation: How to turn an expensive digital SLR into a $10 Holga.

I am quite pleased with the first results.

World Class

"World Class" – Weltklasse. Well, I know, you know... this is just a cheap transition into some shameless self-promotion.

PC World magazine has honored Groove version 3.0 Virtual Office Software with a 2004 World Class Award for Best Collaboration Tool in the mobile tools category.

Excellent!

Pilates

"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.

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!

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

Signs of Life

"Signs of Life" - Lebenszeichen.

Scratched hardwood floor. Accept change.

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.

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.

Ambient

"Ambient" – Umgebend. It must have been the late 70’s/early 80’s when I first discovered Eno’s Ambient Music. Probably nobody could convey the meaning better than Brian Eno. Tonight I am listening to On Land again… and it’s raining outside. Perfect.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Bad Week

Maybe it's time to start a blog.