Grasshopper
I found the link to this cool picture on Q. Really cool!
New Zealand, Australia, USA
Petra Eichstaedt spent eight months in these countries in 1998 and took beautiful pictures! The site is in German (Neuseeland, Australien, USA), but since it consits mainly of pictures, the language doesn’t matter. Just click on one of the countries and then on the arrow to go to the next photo. They’re beautiful!
Wozu die Rundfunkgebühren gut sind
In der Zeit Nr. 36 vom 31. 8. 2000: Die Quoten-Idioten – Warum ARD und ZDF die Zuschauer verachten; von Jens Jessen.
Gut, daß wir keinen Fernseher haben. 
Abschied vom Erfinder von Donald Duck
Auch in der Zeit: Der Schnabel der Welt – Zum Tod des “guten Zeichners” Carl Barks; von Daniel Kothenschulte.
One year ago…
… André and I started on our trip to the USA! I can’t believe that a whole year has passed since then.
I wish we could go again this year, but I’ve already started working on my thesis, and André (see yesterday) is going back to university to finish his physics diploma. That means that we will both be busy for at least the next year.
Update: I read that Hal likes the picture (click on it if you want to see a larger version of it). Yes, I actually think it’s the best picture of the 800+ we took during our trip. And this picture was taken by André.
In case you want to know, I think the second best picture is either this one of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or the “angry sky” in the Painted Desert. André says he likes the sunset pictures at Mono Lake best.
Den USA-Bericht gibt es natürlich auch auf deutsch. Entweder direkt hier, oder die einzelnen Tage unter denselben URLs wie die englische Version, nur mit “/german” zwischen “/usa” und dem Tag.
Soda vs. Pop
Sheila has been assimilated by Brent, the friendly borg. She calls it “soda”. 
Actually, my favourites are the two pictures of sunset at Mono Lake.
Thanks for the two ‘Die Zeit’ links. Maybe it’s because I’m a dumb American who grew up with commericial television, but I have never understood why ARD/ZDF apparently care about ratings (Quoten), since their revenue isn’t affected by ratings at all except between 6 and 8 pm.
(And I never heard of Donald Duck comic books before I came to Germany. I’m sure there’s a deep psychological reason why Mickey Mouse is the most popular Disney figure in the US, but in Germany the most popular figure is Donald Duck.)
Thanks for your comments! I was wondering whether anybody reads the Zeit articles I link to and finds them interesting besides myself.
Maybe it’s a good idea to get rid of the GEZ since paying money for TV doesn’t seem to improve it. At least, people with TVs should be given the opportunity to not watch and not pay for ARD and ZDF – it’s the same crap as in private TV anyway…
How about that deep psychological reason for Germans liking Donald Duck better and Americans prefering Mickey Mouse?
Donald is a Pechvogel – do Germans identify themselves with him because of that?
Hmm… it seems like I’m your typical German, because I don’t even know what to associate with Mickey Mouse. But then, I’ve only seen Donald Duck cartoons on TV, but no Mickey Mouse cartoons. The question is: Is that because they don’t show Mickey Mouse on German TV because Germans like Donald better?!
(We just got back from a long day at the Expo!)
Mickey Mouse is the naïve, innocent sort who only gets into trouble because he trusts people, but things always work out for him in the end. Maybe that’s how Americans like to see themselves?
Maybe I’ve been in Germany too long… I think Mickey is bland and somewhat stupid. At least Donald tries to express himself.
Hmm, seems like Mickey is a complete stranger to me. From all the Disney characters, I remember only Donald and his nephews, and Goofy. I think I watched “Tom and Jerry” more often.
Maybe I’ve been in Germany too long… I think Mickey is bland and somewhat stupid. At least Donald tries to express himself.
Ha ha, a converted European!