Diese Woche in der Zeit

Und noch im Schnelldurchgang einige lesenswerte Artikel aus der Zeit:

Nachruf: Der Schattenmann. Zum Tod von George Harrison. Von Thomas Gross.

Leben: 7 Tage mit Wolfgang Ketterle. “Wolfgang Ketterle, 44, ist Physikprofessor am Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Er erhält am Montag de Nobelpreis” für Physik.

Siehe auch Nobel Prize Physics 2001.

Ereignis: Mit Tolkien auf dem Traktor. “Vom Buch ‘Der Herr der Ringe’ hatte Bauer Mark noch nie etwas gehört. Bis es in Neuseeland verfilmt wurde. Die Schauspieler waren fasziniert von der ungezähmten Landschaft. Und natürlich von Bauer Mark, der ihnen seine Welt erklärte.” Von Thomas Frank.

Stimmt’s? Gefräßiges Hirn. “Ich habe irgendwo gehört, dass unser Gehirn fast die Hälfte der durch die Nahrung zugeführten Energie verbraucht. Das scheint mir, verglichen mit der Muskelmasse unseres Körpers, sehr viel – stimmt es also?”

PISA-Studie: Die Schule brännt. “Deutschlands Schüler, Deutschlands Lehrer: Sie sind die Verlierer im internationalen Vergleich. Schuld daran sind alle – Eltern, Pädagogen und Politiker.” Von Martin Spiewak.

Mehr zum Thema: Pisa, Timss & Co. – Eine Dokumentation zur Schulbildung in Deutschland.

Happy Sinterklaas!

Whoops, the week’s almost over. I ran some errands on Monday, had a job interview on Tuesday, and started working yesterday. I work for the Deutscher BundeswehrVerband, the German Federal Armed Forces Association. (Don’t worry, this is not a permanent job. I’ll be working for them until Christmas, maybe a few more weeks in the new year.)

Living in the former capital of Germany has the advantage that there are all kinds of interesting jobs for (ex-)students, but I have to admit that it was even more interesting when the government was still here. I worked for the Office of the Federal President during my first summer in Bonn (1997). Although the job itself was not different from other office jobs, it was cool working close to the government and sometimes watching when foreign guests were greeted with pomp and circumstance. (And I got a book about and signed by President Roman Herzog as a good-bye gift! )

Community

I heard that EditThisPage.com turned two. So did many weblogs. Happy blogday, View from the Heart, Papa Scott, Blackholebrain and 2020 Hindsight!

Around the World

I didn’t have much time for websurfing in the last couple of days, but I’ve enjoyed reading about Marie’s World Tour 2001:

“Using cargo ships, trains, buses, donkeys, camels and sailboats, I’m going to circumnavigate the world alone in 2001, without getting on a single airplane. Traveling by surface transport means I’ll be visiting small untouristed villages instead of city-hopping along a set route.”

I’ve read the journal up to March so far, and I have to admit it helps when everything is grey and dark and rainy outside. Recommended!

Medieval Market

André and I went to the medieval market in Siegburg today. And of course I’ve got photos for you. Enjoy!

Community

Manila, the software behind this website (and many many others) turned two years old yesterday. Happy anniversary and a big thank you to UserLand!

Congratulations again, Hal! Great photo.

The picture of Hal makes me wonder why we don’t get to wear robes and cool hats for graduation in Germany. At least there’s a small party when someone gets his/her diploma. For people with Staatsexamen like me, there’s not even that. I got my certificate by mail, which was not very exciting…

English – German

I’m using Leo English/German Dictionary more and more. It translates in both directions and knows idioms and phrases as well. I especially like the very convenient bookmarklet they offer. This is much faster than getting my dictionary out!

Und weil es so einfach und praktisch ist, benutze ich das Bookmarklet jetzt oft, um die Bedeutung eines englischen Worts nachzuschauen, das ich sonst einfach überlesen hätte. Einfacher kann man sein Vokabular kaum erweitern.

Music

BBC News: George Harrison dies.

“Former Beatle George Harrison, the singer, songwriter and guitarist for one of the world’s most famous pop groups, has died after losing his battle against cancer.

Harrison died on Thursday at a friend’s Los Angeles home, at 1330 local time, according to his longtime friend Gavin De Becker. “

I expect there are going to be more links over at BookNotes later today.

Der Spiegel: George Harrison ist tot.

“Harrison galt immer als der introvertierteste und ruhigste der Beatles. Zugleich prägte er das Image der Gruppe entscheidend mit, vielleicht gerade weil er es vorzog, mehr Musiker als Star zu sein.”

Weihnachtsmarkt

I had to run a few errands in town yesterday and took my camera along to get a few shots of the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) after dark. Here they are, especially for you, Garret.

Oh, and happy second weblog anniversary, too, Garret!

Math? Art?

“uncontrol is an interactive exercise that explores the themes of anthropomorphism and kinetics. using Macromedia Flash, I developed experiments that express these themes using only basic forms: lines, splines, rectangles, and circles.” And it’s fun! Be sure to try and draw your own pictures (number 25 in the navigation; read the howto, then click draw).

Thanks

Belated thanks for the congratulations, David!

(I really need to update my list of favourite blogs over at Blogtracker.)

Harry Potter

André and I went to see Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone last night. The film started at 10:30 pm, and there were exactly 20 people in the theater (which holds around 180, I think), including ourselves. The small number was not surprising though because it was very late on a weekday and because we watched the non-dubbed English version of the film. Not many people in Germany seem to like watching original versions.

The film stays pretty close to the book, as far as I can remember. (It’s been close to two years since I’ve read the book.) Of course some things had to be left out, and I think some things in the film are difficult to understand if you haven’t read the book before watching it. For example, Neville Longbottom’s toad appears in the book all the time, but only twice in the movie. Draco Malfoy’s two friends barely appear in the movie although they appear often in the book.

The actors in the film were all very good. I think Harry should have stood out a bit more; there are a few scenes in which Ron or Hermione steal the show. On the other hand, I have to agree with the author of the review mentioned below (in German): Readers of the books will be able to keep up their own image of Harry even after watching the movie because he is not as outstanding as he could have been.

All in all, I agree with Mollie’s review of the film.

Die Zeit hatte diese Woche eine Kritik des Films: Zauberhafte Abziehbilder. “‘Harry Potter’ – der Film – bleibt ganz nah am Buch. Das ist sein einziger, aber auch ein entscheidender Fehler.”

News

The UN Talks on Afghanistan take place on the Petersberg right outside of Bonn. When Bonn was still the capital of Germany, the Petersberg was the Bundesgästehaus, the hotel for foreign guests of the government. You can see it on some of
my photos: It’s on one of the hills in this photo of Langer Eugen, and the building is visible in the photos on the right. It’s always exciting when political action is taking place right on your doorstep.

Der General-Anzeiger Bonn berichtet natürlich auch über die Konferenz: Konferenz entwirft Zeitplan für Übergangsregierung.

Mathematik

In NRW gibt es ein Projekt namens SelMa – “Selbstlernen in der gymnasialen Oberstufe – Mathematik”. Auf einer Seite zum Thema mathematische Facharbeitsthemen habe ich einen Link zu meiner Hausarbeit über Mathematik und Bildung entdeckt.

Aus meinen Referrern.