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.
Thanks
Danke für die Glückwünsche auch an Dich, Ralf! Mein Brenner zickt übrigens nicht.
Mathe
Iris hat mir heute per Email einen schönen Link zukommen lassen: Don’t drink and derive – die ultimatiefste Mathe-Witzesammlung. Lesenswert! (Trotz des Titels sind die meisten Witze deutschsprachig.)
“Treffen sich zwei Geraden. Sagt die eine: ‘Beim nächsten Mal gibst du einen aus.'”
School’s out
I snatched the title from Scott. School’s out – for now. I’m not going to mention that I’m probably going to spend the rest of my working life in school…
Many thanks for congratulations and links (and support), Duncan, John, Garret, Helena, Martin, Dave, Al, Craig, Mike, Hal, Scott, Jeff, and Jörg.
By the way, all those links made my site number 37 in the Daypop Top 40 Links today. I didn’t know the list existed, but it showed up in my referrers.
It feels great to waste some time without feeling guilty. Today I did profane things like going shopping and cooking – things I haven’t done for weeks, thanks to André. He was very supportive throughout the past year, and now it’s my turn to pay him back!
However, I still feel exhausted. It’s similar to that tiredness you feel the day before you get down with a cold or flu, but I don’t think I’m going to be ill because I felt the same way after the other exams. Strange how mental work can make your body tired. I’ll be better tomorrow, and now I’m going to bed.
WheeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
I’m free!
Clarification: Yes, this means I’ve passed my last exam. It went much, much better than math, so I’m happy now.
And tired.
Back to normal
Okay, I guess it will take some time till I’m back to normal, but this weblog will return to normal now. I’ve collected quite a few links in the last couple of days/weeks. I don’t know where or how I found some of these; sorry I can’t give proper credit here. Let me know if I stole a link from you!
Math
The Exploratorium in San Francisco has a great exhibition at the moment (October 6, 2001 – May 5, 2002): Mathematica. See also this article. Too bad San Francisco is so far away from Germany…
Aber hier in Bonn gibt’s auch bald eine schöne Matheausstellung: Mathematik zum Anfassen. Albrecht Beutelspacher, der Initiator, dürfte zumindest Mathestudenten ein Begriff sein. (Buch “Das ist o. B. d. A trivial” und andere). Die Ausstellung ist überall in Deutschland unterwegs; hier die geplanten Orte bis Mitte 2002.
Music
This one’s for you, Susan: Radio Science Orchestra. They’ve got a section on the theremin and even a virtual theremin to play with! (Some plugins required.)
Link via Exploratorium Cool Sites of the Month, November.
Blues Brothers Link Archive. (I can’t get enough of the Blues Brothers music. The film simply rocks!)
Physics
The Super-Kamiokande experiment exploded, sort of. BBC: Particle physics telescope explodes.
Super Kamiokande Homepage, including photos.
Auf deutsch: Unfall zerstört unzählige Detektoren einer japanischen Großforschungsanlage.
“Co-owned by the Institute of Physics and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, New Journal of Physics (NJP) is a peer-reviewed, all-electronic journal publishing original research in all areas of physics. The journal’s Editors and staff are committed to building NJP into the leading scientific journal in its field by publishing articles of outstanding scientific quality that merit the attention and interest of all physicists. NJP is available without charge to readers around the world via the Internet”
Read the FAQ.
DPG: Denkschrift zum Jahr der Physik.
Mixed
Picture Projects – toward a new documentary. Projects: 360 degrees of criminal justice, akaKurdistan, Farewell to Bosnia, Re: Vietnam – stories since the war.
Wahlen in Deutschland hat ein Archiv mit Wahlergebnissen seit dem 2. Weltkrieg und aktuelle Nachrichten aus der Politik. Interessant und nützlich.
Und für Bonner Studenten der Physik: Das Fortgeschrittenen-Praktikum gibt’s jetzt auch online!
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