Attaboy

"Attaboy" - Bravo!, so ist's recht! Das ist mein Junge!

Over the years I heard this expression off and on and (as it turns out) correctly thought of it as some kind of an encouragement (simply because of its typical upbeat pronunciation) but was never quite sure. I always heard it as "a da boy" which was puzzling, so I finally had to ask a coworker for the spelling in order to look it up.

Without Words

"Without Words" - Ohne Worte.

Cover

"Cover" - Titelseite (There are approximately 25 more possible translations that I won't get into this time.)



The Beverly Chamber of Commerce has released its new 2006 Membership Directory and Resource Guide. The cover image shows a detail of one of my favorite places in Beverly, MA: Long Hill - Sedgwick Garden. [I know the photographer. :-)]

Glorious

"Glorious" - Herrlich, praechtig, wunderbar; ruhmvoll, glorreich.



Today was a glorious day on the North Shore. It's February 5th, yet we had temperatures in the fifties (around 10 °C). I took the opportunity and went for a sunny walk along Singing Beach in Manchester by the Sea. I know, the picture is somewhat kitschy, but it fits the day.

Dis-ease

"dis-ease" - Un-Wohlgefuehl, Un-Behagen, Un-Sorglosigkeit, Un-Linderung, Un-Leichtigkeit.

Any situation which impairs the quality of life is a disease. It is the opposite of ease, or dis-ease. (Thanks to S.)

Suspended

"Suspended" - Haengend, schwebend; suspendiert.



The Walker Picture System, exactly what I was looking for: fun, flexible, minimalistic.

Lorem Ipsum

"Lorem Ipsum" (Dummy text, kind of...) - Eine Art von Attrappentext.

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..." - "There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

I stumbled over "Lorem Ipsum" today while discussing aspects of layout algorithms, it is dummy text often used by the printing and typesetting industry. More...

Smoking Gun

"Smoking Gun" (incontrovertible evidence of guilt) - Unbestreitbarer Schuldbeweis.

Must I forgive you
Each time
And say you don't know what your're doing
There are no victimless crimes
I know of
Out here in these graffiti ruins
My love

Oh I am not old
I'm told
But I am not young
Oh and nothing can be done
Don't start
My heart
Is a smoking gun
Oh and nothing can be done

I heard you leaving
Late last night
I heard you screaming down the mountain
Like you were running red lights
(Red lights)
You had some trash-can-rock-band pounding

Oh I am not old
I'm told
But I am not young
Oh and nothing can be done
Don't start
My heart
Is a smoking gun
Oh and nothing can be done

Must I surrender
With grace
The things I loved when I was younger
(Sweet embrace)
Must I remember your face
So well
What do I do here with this hunger

Oh I am not old
I'm told
But I am not young
Oh and nothing can be done
Don't start
My heart
Is a smoking gun
Oh and nothing can be done

Nothing can be done
Nothing can be done
Oh nothing can be done...

These are the lyrics of "Nothing Can Be Done" (Music by Larry Klein, words by Joni Mitchell). Joni Mitchell is a genius, both as a writer and a musician. This one example, there are many more, fits today's mood.

Plug

"Plug" - Stecker; Zapfen; Pfropfen, Stöpsel; Zündkerze; Spülvorrichtung.

"Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it would withdraw from the camera and color film businesses, marking the end to one of the best known brands in the photography world." More here and here.

Sad. I had happily used a Minolta SLR system for about 10 years before I switched to a digital Canon SLR setup.

Coffee, No Cigarettes

"Coffee, No Cigarettes" - Kaffee, Keine Zigaretten.

Applause

"Applause" - Beifall, Applaus.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an interview published days before her first visit to the United States, said Washington should close its Guantanamo Bay prison camp and find other ways of dealing with terror suspects.

Finally something agreeable from Fr. Merkel.

RSF

"RSF" - Reporters Sans Frontières, Reporters Without Borders.

More journalists (66) have been killed in Iraq since U.S. forces and its allies launched their campaign on March 20, 2003 than during the 20 years of conflict in Vietnam, media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Sunday.

Repudiation

"Repudiation" - Nichtanerkennung, Ablehnung, Verstoßung.

"Dutch voters overwhelmingly rejected a new constitution for Europe on Wednesday, following France in undermining the region's ambitions to play a stronger role on the world scene. The French repudiated the treaty on Sunday, setting off a crisis in the 25-member European Union. According to unofficial results 61.6 percent voted against the constitution and 38.4 percent in favor - a larger margin than in France, where 55 percent voted no."

I am not surprised.

Rejection

"Rejection" - Ablehnung, Verwerfung, Verneinung.

"France overwhelmingly rejected the European Union constitution on Sunday, pitching the EU into crisis and dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly."

Voyager

"Voyager" - Reisender.

As a Glenn Gould fan I was glad to learn that Voyager's Golden Record contains Glenn Gould's interpretation of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Wonderful!

Sideways

"Sideways" - seitwärts, von der Seite, schräg, schief; ausweichend.

MAYA
Why are you so into Pinot? It’s like a thing with you?

MILES
I don’t know. It’s a hard grape to grow. As you know. It’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s not a survivor like Cabernet that can grow anywhere and thrive even when neglected. Pinot needs constant care and attention and in fact can only grow in specific little tucked-away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing growers can do it really, can tap into Pinot’s most fragile, delicate qualities. Only when someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential can Pinot be coaxed into its fullest expression. And when that happens, its flavors are the most haunting and brilliant and subtle and thrilling and ancient on the planet.
I mean, Cabernets can be powerful and exciting, but they seem prosaic to me for some reason by comparison. How about you?

MAYA
I do like to think about the life of wine, how it’s a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained... what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle its going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive -- it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks -- like your ‘61 -- and begins its steady, inevitable decline. And it tastes so f... good.

Scene from the movie Sideways.

Slimy Honor

"Slimy Honor" - Schleimige, glitschige, schmierige Ehre.

President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have shared a common political vision for most of their careers. Now each will share something else — a slime-mold beetle named in his honor.
More here and here.

Continuous Form

"Continuous Form" - Verlaufsform.

"Es gibt in der deutschen Sprache so manches, was es offiziell gar nicht gibt. Die sogenannte Rheinische Verlaufsform zum Beispiel. Die hat weniger mit dem Verlauf des Rheins zu tun, dafür umso mehr mit Grammatik. Vater ist das Auto am Reparieren, Mutter ist die Stube am Saugen. Und der Papst war wochenlang im Sterben am Liegen."

Here is an amusing article about the Rhineland dialect (that I grew up with) and it's idiosyncratic use of the continuous form: Wie der Rheinländer die Sprache am Verdrehen ist.

Thanks vowe.

Irrational (Non)exuberance

"Irrational (Non)exuberance" - Irrationale (Un)Ueberschwenglichkeit.

"...Germans don't think the present is a particularly good time to be doing business in their homeland... While the Americans were in the grips of irrational exuberance, the Germans were seized by irrational nonexuberance... It could be that there's something cultural at work here. The 20th century was punctuated at its beginning and middle by disasters resulting in part from an excess of German enthusiasm. Could German businesspeople suffer from some lingering sense of shame or self-consciousness over the fact that the world starts to get upset whenever Germans get too enthusiastic about anything?"
More: Gloomy Gustavs

Lanyard

"Lanyard" - Traggurt, Kordel, Schnur, kurzes Seil.

I am currently testing the ultra-simplified and stylish Apple iPod shuffle. What an amazing device! It doesn't weigh much more (22 grams or 0.78 ounces) than the lanyard that comes with it but sounds just as good as its bigger siblings. I haven't made up my mind whether or not I could live without a screen... give me few more days at the gym.

Update: I decided that I do need a screen and returned the shuffle. No new toy yet...