Nothing is free? Oh yes, this (music) is

August 15, 2010 - ENGLISH & Well-informed - (0) COMMENTs

All Smiles (guitarist from Grandaddy & Modest Mouse) is giving away a free album. A friend of mine posted this on facebook and I was curious but sceptical as usual. The download took about half an hour with my slow connection, but in the end you really get the whole album. They want you to “like” them on facebook (which I didn’t because I wanted to know if it really works and if I really like it). In a nutshell: I like their album. Good music! What is really free these days…okay, they might collect some data, but I’m not sharing my profile info with them, as I didn’t “like” them although I like their music. Making sense? Well…go for the free album if you haven’t got it yet or if you want to have some new music for free. I can really recommend it. Inspected and trusted by missycola.

When this screen comes up only click on “Download Now” and ignore the twitter and facebook stuff if you don’t feel sure about it.

Globale Verdummung haelt weiterhin Einzug

July 17, 2010 - A-life & DEUTSCH & Well-informed - (1) COMMENT

Als wenn es nicht schon schlimm genug ist, dass immer mehr kids sich im Internet tuemmeln und sich von anderen Internetlern die schlechte bzw. falsche Rechtschreibung abgucken. Und das passiert nicht nur Kindern, denn auch unter Erwachsenen sehe ich immer oefter diese Faulheit, was das richtige Schreiben der eigenen Sprache angeht.

Aber nun ist es amtlich! Die allmaehliche Verdummung der Menschheit ist GEWOLLT! Es scheint eine Taktik zu sein.

Schaut selbst. Hier ein Werbemagazin einer hiesigen Supermarktkette.

BakedBeanz? Hallo? Hat jemand da das ‘s’ zu zackig gemalt, oder was?

Hier dann der augenscheinliche Beweis, dass an dem einst serioesen Heinz geruettelt wurde, um sich auf ein paar Stufen tiefer mit dem coolen, poebelnden Volk das ach so coole ‘high-five’ der Jugendsprache zu geben.

Meine bessere amerikanische Haelfte sagte dazu nur, “Wie? Das wurde doch schon immer so geschrieben, das ist nicht neu von Heinz, das ist deren Schreibweise”. Er war ganz unbeeindruckt. Oh…ist das ein Wort? Unbeeindruckt? Oder kommt das gar von “unimpressed”? Ups, na, da muss ich ja nun selbst mal aufpassen, dass ich mit meinem australischen Kopf ueberhaupt noch vernuenftiges Deutsch schreibe. Grins.

Ich glaube aber, dass Heinz die Bohnen-Schreibweise erst vor Kurzem geaendert haben. Zum Wohle der aufstrebenden neuen Ich-schreibe-gern-alles-mit-Absicht-falsch-weil-es-so-cool-ist-Generation. Das hat halt sowas Punkiges. Einfach mal anders sein ist ja gut und schoen, aber heutzutage ist man ja keine Ausnahme mehr, wenn man alles (wenn auch mit Absicht) falsch schreibt. Wo man hinguckt, wird umgangssprachlich geschrieben und gesimst (sms via Handy). Ich vermisse das professionelle Umfeld. Hallo – Echo – wo bist du?
Ich ertappe mich staendig dabei sogar meine Chefs bei ihrer (englischen) Rechtschreibung zu verbessern. Ich bekomme sms von Vorgesetzten, die ich erstmal entschluesseln muss, weil alles umgangssprachlich und abgekuerzt ist…keiner kann mir sagen, dass das nur zum Zwecke der Zeichenersparnis (beim sms schreiben) ist…ob man nun “be” oder “b” schreibt…tolle Ersparnis um EINEN Buchstaben. Wow. Glueckwunsch! Ihr zahlt monatlich eure 100 Dollar fuer euren iphone Vertrag, da kommt es doch nicht drauf an, ob ihr alles in EINE sms quetscht oder zwei draus macht. Eine sms kostet doch nur 19cent.
Sollten Chefs nicht dennoch eine gewisse Vorbildfunktion haben?
Ok, wer nicht kann, der kann halt nicht, aber der, der eigentlich weiss, wie’s geschrieben wird, warum zum Teufel……!

Ach hoert auf!

Was die Rechtschreibung anbelangt bin ich grundtief spiessig und konservativ. Heutzutage ist es doch schon cool, wenn man KEIN piercing hat (habe aus unter anderem diesen Grund meins schon vor langer Zeit rausgenommen), wenn man KEIN Tattoo hat, wenn man KEIN Handy (sollte ich iphone sagen?) besitzt (geht das ueberhaupt noch?) und wenn man die Rechtschreibung beherrscht und es nicht albern findet, es auch zu zeigen.

Puh…es kommen Rauchschwaden aus meinen Ohren.

Waving goodbye

May 19, 2010 - A-life & ENGLISH & Well-informed - (2) COMMENTs

Officially on holiday from today on. Cannot really believe it. Calming down….breathing in….and out….Relaxing is on the daily to-to list from now on…

We’re off to Lombok, which is an island east of Bali in Indonesia.

It is my first attempt to discover a part of Asia. Lombok is in the south east of Asia….it is only a 4 hours flight from Perth (to Bali).

Some interesting facts about LOMBOK for my family or everyone interested (from wiki and wikitravel):

The island’s topography is dominated by the centrally-located stratovolcano Mount Rinjani, which rises to 3,726 m (12,224 ft), making it the third-highest in Indonesia. The volcano, and its crater lake, ‘Segara Anak’ (child of the sea), are protected by the Gunung Rinjani National Park established in 1997. The southern part
of the island is a fertile plain where corn, rice, coffee, tobacco, and cotton are grown.

Bali versus Lombok

Proximity to Bali is Lombok’s blessing, and its curse. While only 25 miles separate the two islands, they are in fact worlds apart. “Indeed, overzealous tourism officials notwithstanding, Lombok is not “an unspoiled Bali,” or “Bali’s sister island.” Lombok is not Bali at all, and that is precisely its charm.” Lombok has retained a more natural, uncrowded and undeveloped environment, which attract travelers who come to enjoy its relaxed pace and the opportunity to explore the island’s unspoiled, spectacular natural beauty.

Meaning of Lombok

In the Indigenous language of the Sasak people of Lombok the word lombok means straight ahead. or lurus in Bahasa Indonesian.

The people

Lombok’s people are 85% Sasak: around 2.6 million of a total population 2.95 million in 2005. They are culturally and linguistically closely related to the Balinese, but unlike the Hindu Balinese, the majority are Muslim. (…) The dominant Sasak culture in Lombok and the very restrained and quiet nature its people may help explain why Lombok is less popular in terms of shopping, cuisine, and nightlife than Bali. Lombok is however becoming increasingly popular with tourists and honeymooners who want to relax in an inexpensive, tropical, uncrowded atmosphere, with many natural treasures and majestic scenery.

In 2000, mobs of the ethnic Sasak people, ostensibly provoked by fundamentalist Muslim agitators from Maluku, looted and burned churches as well as homes and businesses owned by Hindus and ethnic Chinese. The bombing of nightclubs in Bali in 2002 and the further explosions in 2005 further exacerbated the fears held by foreign tourists. For many years many Embassies issued advisory travel warnings against travel to Indonesia. The ensuing years have been peaceful, but tourists have yet to regain confidence that travel to Lombok is safe.

Weather

While tropical, hot and humid, Lombok is drier than neighboring Bali, which makes it a particularly attractive option during the October-December rainy season (it rains on Lombok too, but rarely for more than an hour or two). The peak of the tourist season, though, is May through August.

Language

The main local language is Bahasa Sasak – the language of the Sasak people of Lombok. Bahasa Indonesia is also spoken or at least understood by many local people and will normally be used in government offices, larger shops and businesses. English is common in the resort areas and occasionally some other European languages are spoken by people involved in the tourism sector.

Getting around

By bemo
Bemos (converted passenger-carrying minivans) are the main means of short and medium distance transport on Lombok. They can be hailed down on all larger streets and will happily take you even short hops down the road. Fares are inexpensive.

By taxi
Metered taxis are a fairly new development on Lombok.

By car
Renting a car is also an option. Driving yourself around Lombok is not for the uninitiated. The chances of having an accident are much higher than when driving in your home country. Driving in Lombok requires an International Driver’s License plus your own country of residence Drivers Licence. Insurance is not provided by the car rental places, so you are responsible for any damage. If you do hit a local person, either on foot, on motorcycle, or in a car, you can expect to pay a very large sum of money to make restitution. Finally, street signs are infrequent and ambiguous. Road users are normally seriously undisciplined and engage in highly dangerous and erratic behaviour on the road. The roads in Lombok have horse carts (cidomo), free roaming cattle, goats, cats, dogs, chickens and other assorted hazards moving about at all hours. Roadworks or hazards are rarely sign-posted by other than a pile of branches or a rock placed on the road as a warning, most often no cautionary signal is given at all.

Sounds like an adventure to drive there.

A good alternative to renting a car is to rent a car with a local driver. This service is normally offered as an all inclusive package of rental car, driver and fuel. The driver can take you effortlessly to all the local attractions, plus some places that are never shown in the guide books. A suitable driver will take responsibility for whatever happens during the trip and will be happy to accommodate your travelling schedule. If you want to take a two or three day trip around the island, the driver will accompany you, eat low priced meals, and find low price places to stay at night so he is prepared to continue the trip in the morning.

By motorbike
Renting a motorbike is also an option and there are many places in Senggigi, Mangsit, Mataram, Cakranegara and elsewhere to rent from.

By ojek
An Ojek is a motorbike taxi service.

By horse cart
Horse-pulled carts, known as cidomo, are very common on Lombok. They are a good method of transportation for short distances e.g, from your hotel to a restaurant. Make sure to agree on the price before the journey – Rp 10,000 is the maximum price to pay for a short journey. In the Gilis there are no cars, so horse carts or a bicycle are the best way to get around.

We will be in the Gilis as well. Yay horse carts! :))

By boat
Traditional fishing boats known as perahu ply the waters around Lombok, and are instantly recognizable due to their outriggers, two lengths of extra large bamboo sealed at either end and attached by timber outrigger bars on both sides creating a configuration similar to a catamaran and affording greater stability in heavy swells.

By bicycle
Traffic is relatively light throughout the island so travel by bicycle is quite possible and provides a very different cultural experience to other means of transport. You may wish to bring your own touring bike, as most local bikes are of a very basic quality.

Hmmm…a long list to choose from.

What to do

Traditional massage, snorkeling, surfing, scuba diving, fishing, biking, trekking…

There are several good treks around the island, including multi-day hikes up Mount Rinjani a 3726 m volcano. There are several short treks to see water falls and other island attractions. Rinjani last erupted in May 2009 and the last major eruption was in 1994.

This is already on our to-do list.

Good to know

It is very useful to take along a sarong when traveling about as they are a good all purpose item that can come in handy to keep off the sun or wind and can be called into service to avoid any awkward moments.

Footwear must always be removed when entering a person’s home and occasionally even some business premises. This is the case in even the most primitive and basic living structures.

In Lombok it is normally considered to be quite rude or disrespectful to offer or hand something to someone with your left hand unless they are a very close and intimate friend or family member, and even then it is best avoided if possible.

In December-January 2009-2010 there was an outbreak of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in Lombok.

Dress modestly in rural villages, religious sites and government buildings; long pants for men and a shirt, a modest skirt, full or calf length pants, dress or sarongs are suggested and a conservative blouse is recommended for women. This may save you and onlookers from embarrassment. If more revealing clothing is worn it is good to have a sarong handy as it can effect a quick and easy adaptation to prevailing circumstances.
Carry a sarong if you only have revealing swimwear available and wear it especially when you are nearby or talking with local people as it will place everyone more at ease and create considerably less controversy.

….adding ‘sarong’ to shopping list.

And now: packing up and leaving in less than three hours!

Soon we are here:

[photo credit]

We are totally excited!!!

Sydney unter einer roten Sand-Dunstglocke

September 23, 2009 - Australia & DEUTSCH & Well-informed - (0) COMMENTs

Fuer die, die es noch nicht mitbekommen haben. In Sydney wuetete ein roter Sandsturm und verursachte Chaos und spektaluaere Bilder. Die Stadt versank im roetlichen Sandnebel. Hier gibts den Bericht mit Bildern vom Spiegel. Und hier gibts mehr Bilder und Infos auf einer der australischen Nachrichtenseiten.
Es heisst “air pollution highest on record”. Na dann, Prost Mahlzeit.

Gluecklich Sein

September 17, 2009 - DEUTSCH & Well-informed - (0) COMMENTs

Um wirklich glücklich zu sein, muss man eine Aufgabe, einen geliebten Menschen und eine große Hoffnung haben.

Ricarda Huch

Da ist was Wahres dran.