Sport ist Mord

I’m totally exhausted from my first two days at school, but I had to flip the page in order to link to Oliver‘s Skiing Holiday 2002. I almost fell off my chair, I was laughing so hard. Now, Oliver, which of those photos are photosh*pped?

[This is strange: I flipped the page using the Flip the page button as I always do, but this didn’t show up on the homepage until I displayed the message and clicked on Make this page the home page.]

Raumfahrt

Gerade habe ich den ersten Teil von A Man on the Moon von Andrew Chaikin zuende gelesen. Passend dazu fand ich bei Engelbert einen Link zu Astris.de, einer Site über Raumfahrt und Astronomie.

Über das Apollo-Programm, das aus 17 Missionen bestand, gibt es auch eine Seite. Von den 17 Missionen waren 11 bemannt, sechs landeten auf dem Mond. Am bekanntesten düften Apollo 11 und 13 sein: erstere, weil es die erste Landung auf dem Mond war (Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldrin), letztere durch die Verfilmung mit Tom Hanks als Jim Lovell – “Houston, we have a problem!”

Sehr viel mehr Informationen als Astris.de bieten zum Beispiel Raumfahrtgeschichte.de, Astronomie.de oder direkt bei den Experten, z. B. bei der NASA, der ESA oder der DLR.

Chickens in the Opera

It seems I have to read MetaFilter in order to hear about the latest news from Bonn, my hometown:

Live chickens slaughtered during opera.

It’s strange that I couldn’t find anything about this in the local newspaper…

Groundhog Day

February 2 is Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil will come out of his den in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania today. If he can see his shadow, this means six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, it means the winter is going to end soon.

If there was a groundhog in Bonn, it would certainly be able to see its shadow today. The weather forecast predicts 18°C (64°F) for this afternoon!

I think we’re going to go on a bike excursion today (before the weather gets worse again).

Computer in der Schule

Heise Newsticker: Apple will in die Klassenzimmer rollen, und zwar mit dem Wireless Mobile Classroom. Das ganze ist demnächst in Köln auf der Kölner Bildungsmesse zu bewundern, die mein Studienseminar (ja, alle 150 Referendare) besuchen wird.

Link via Schockwellenreiter.

Astrid Lindgren in der Zeit

In der Zeit sind diese Woche gleich zwei Artikel über die kürzlich verstorbene Autorin Astrid Lindgren:

Nachruf: Pippi geht von Bord. Aber Nintendo und Teletubbies ersetzen Astrid Lindgren nicht. Von Susanne Gaschke.

Posthum: In jeder Idylle lebt die Revolte. Zum Tode von Astrid Lindgren: Eine Erinnerung an ihre unsterblichen Kinder und Tagediebe, Träumer und Kobolde. Von Konrad Heidkamp.

lOggy

Today I got a lOggy via email. I don’t know what they’re about, but I suppose they’re fun:

“Everyday someone gets his own lOggy!. It’s neither predictable nor negotiable who gets one. The only thing you can do is make sure you have a picture of yourself online. Without that picture it is impossible creating a lOggy! for you.

Jeden Tag erhält jemand einen eigenen lOggy!. Wer, das ist nicht vorauszusagen und man kan darüber auch nicht verhandeln. Das einzige was Du selbst tun kannst, ist dafür zu sorgen, dass ein Foto von Dir online ist. Ohne Foto ist es unmöglich um einen lOggy! für Dich zu machen.”

Today was also my first day of teacher training. Since (most) teachers are public servants in Germany, we were sworn in today. I hadn’t expected this to be so… serious. Now I’m looking forward to going to school for the first time on Monday.

Bloody Sunday

Guardian Unlimited:

“Today is the 30th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, in which 14 people were killed by British paratroopers at a march against internment held in Derry. Soliders said they responded to attack from gunfire and nail bombs; other witnesses said they fired indiscriminately. The Widgery inquiry into the events on February 1972, which exonerated the soldiers, was widely seen as inadequate, and a fresh inquiry is now under way. Here are the best links on the controversy and the peace process.”

See also this article from BBC: Bloody Sunday 30 years on. The BBC also has a page about the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.

More information can be found at Larkspirit, “an Internet resource for organizations, publications and individuals who promote freedom with justice for Ireland”: Remembering Bloody Sunday.

Sport ist Mord?!

Patti used to skateboard. And tried it again after twenty-six years.

Kindermund tut Wahrheit kund

Garret received this via email: Kid’s responses to relationship questions.

“How can a stranger tell if two people are married?

You might have to guess, unless they’re yelling at the same kids.

– Derrick, age 8″

Baking

I recently acquired a muffin pan. Now I have to bake muffins all the time because I don’t know if I’m going to have time for stuff like that once I start the teacher training on Friday.

Today I made date-nut-yoghurt muffins, and they turned out delicious! Here’s the recipe.

Global warming?

It’s January 30, and we have had about 15°C (that’s 59°F) for several days now. In Bavaria, the temperature was up to 19°C (66°F), which is the highest temperature ever measured on any January 30 in Germany since records have been kept.

I wonder if the winter will be coming back. Me, I’m ready for spring!

Weblog Anniversary

Thanks for the belated but not lame congratulations, Mike.

Astrid Lindgren

Astrid Lindgren, die Schutzpatronin des kindlichen Gemüts, ist tot. Im Alter von 94 Jahren ist die beliebteste Kinderbuchautorin der Welt verstorben. Es gibt wohl kaum ein Kind, das nicht Pippi Langstrumpf kennt, oder Ronja Räubertochter, oder Michel aus Lönneberga, oder die Kinder aus Bullerbü, oder…

Guardian Unlimited: Astrid Lindgren dies in her sleep.

BBC News: Pippi creator Lindgren dies.

NY Times: Astrid Lindgren, Swedish Writer of Pippi Longstocking Tales, Dies at 94 (registration required).

MetaFilter thread: Astrid Lindgren goes to Nangiyala….

More links at Google.

Weblog Anniversary

Thanks, too, to Hal, Jörg, Helena and Garret.