I spent the last few days with the possibility to watch TV - I don't normally do - and I happend across a documentary/magazine about the midwest of the US, specifically Colorado in wintertime. They had several little films. One was about a wounded warriors outing in a famous wintersport resort, and it was just amazing to see how some of these veterans were performing. The narrator said that since so many soldiers were wounded in the recent wars, interest in disabled sports has increased a lot si...

I was trolling Spiegel magazine and found this article and thought I'd share it. Enjoy East German Jokes Collected by West German Spies Did East Germans originate from apes? Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year. Such jokes were whispered in communist East Germany -- and West German spies recorded them diligently to gain insights into the public mood, according to recently released intelligence files. "What would happen if the desert became communist? Not...

Just a few weeks ago I watched a really cool documentary about the Bikini and its origin. The bikini was created in 1946 by a french designer. Coincidentally, the US had started a series of nuclear tests "for the benefit of mankind" on the Bikini atolls, and because it was a provocative isse the fashion designer named his invention after said atoll. Sexbomb refers to that insofar as the name bikini derives from the nuclear bomb tests, so a hot woman wearing a bikini became a sexbomb.. It liberat...

I just read this on CNN: Cemetery workers accused of reselling plots, and apparently it is a huge thing. But from my standpoint it is pretty normal to do just that. In Germany you have to rent your grave and pay for it for 25 years. If the grave isn't rerented and paid for, the grave will be bulldozed and get a new tenant.. There is not enough space to have a final resting place forever, and once the body has gone dust to dust there is no reason to reserve that spot, unless the family explicitly...

Last week, a brutal murder took place in a german courtroom in Dresden. An egyptian woman was stabbed to death by the defendant in front of her husband and little son. This event has caused fury in Egypt.. it was a terrible crime and tragedy. Racism is just awful. From Spiegel online: A brutal murder in Germany last week has caused shockwaves in far-off Egypt. Thousands of mourners took to the streets of Alexandria on Monday to protest at the funeral of a pregnant Egyptian woman who was ...

Today I worked as a museumguide in a small museum, telling people about the life of a female poet that lived in the first half of the 19th century. It is actually quite interesting, and most people really enjoy their visit because I don't just refer facts but try to make it a interesting narrative. But the truth is that there are only so many ways to tell a story, and as a museumguide you run through them all in short order. Visitors differ greatly from each other as well - which keeps telling t...

Everyone who has ever had to fight with government bureaucracy or any form of bureaucracy and thought that they were going mad will sympathize. This clip is from the movie "The twelve tasks of Asterix" in which he and Obelix have to complete said task. The first two minutes are a bit odd, but it picks up rather quickly after that.  Enjoy