Sometimes You see them in German towns: Proud guys with tuned cars checking out the friends and their cars. Discussing spoilers, underfloor illumination, turbo chargers and car stereos.
If You go to New Zealand You will see them as well. Kiwis proud of their cars. Cruising over the streets to show their newest gadgets. The famous ZISCH sound then the turbo is discharging while the driver is coupling. It is funny. Like in old times in Germany with the famous Opel Manta and VW GOLF GTI the tuning is a very popular hobby by the Kiwis. You have to see and hear it if You have the chance to visit the towns of NZ.
But as well have a look at the sides of the streets while You are travelling with a car through the islands. It is like on a graveyard. Crucifices everywhere. They are standing there like silent witnesses of guys who died on the streets. The Kiwis are doing much to fight the speeding madness, the police is enforcing the speed limits very strictly but still accidents are happening. A lot of them for sure unnecesserly. Throwing away a young life maybe together with some others. It is not only a phenomenon in Germany. It is known in other countries as well

ist eindeutig die Deutsche Bahn (auch DB). Kaum mit der Fähre in Friedrichshafen (auch FN) angekommen schon wartet man auf den Zug, weil er 5 Minuten später kommt (WUNDER, WUNDER). Ich glaub es nicht! Wie kann das denn bitte sein? In der Schweiz kommen Züge auch später, aber wenn es eben mal wieder auf der Schiene zugeht wie im Krieg oder wenn die Technik im Winter ab und zu versagt. Doch gestern war tote Hose auf dem deutschen Schienennetz und das Wetter war perfekt. Warum also 5 Minuten Verspätung. Und wieso gleich bei meiner Ankunft bevor ich überhaupt einen Zug der DB bestiegen hab? Was geht da? Ist das die Bahn mit der Deutschland in das 3. Jahrtausend fahren will?
Vielleicht kommt es etwas drastisch rüber. Glaubt mir: Ich stehe hinter der Bahn und ich bin stolz auf das, was wir in Deutschland haben (man muss nur mal schauen, was denn so in anderen Ländern auf den Schienen passiert oder eben was nicht). Doch entschuldigt das nicht den Diletantismus im Betrieb Bahn. Da muss sich etwas ändern. Die Mitarbeiter der Bahn wären gut beraten, sich etwas mehr Mühe zu geben. So wie ich es sehe fährt die Bahn in die richtige Richtung (die Bahnhöfe werden attraktiver, neue durchdachte und schöne Züge machen das Fahren angenehmer) doch muss sich gerade im Service und in der Pünktlichkeit noch einiges verbessern. Es wäre schade, wenn am Ende ein funktionierender Bahnbetrieb dasteht, die Kunden aber schon längst vergrault wurden. Mein Tip: Auch mal etwas bei den Nachbarn schauen: In der Schweiz habe ich bei weitem nicht die Probleme wie in Deutschland.

Es ist eindeutig klar. Kein Zweifel.
Der wahre Auftraggeber des Twin Towers Anschlag war die Sicherheits- und Polizeigewerkschaft. Ist ja auch eindeutig: Sie sind die einzigen die von der jetzigen Situation profitieren. Gepäck durchleuchten, aber mindestens 20 mal (das Schild, welches aussagt, dass Photofilmen nichts passieren kann, ist so schon fast nutzlos), Durchsuchen des potentiellen Terroristen, ähem sorry, des Passagiers, bis auf die Unterhose, das gleiche nochmals vor dem Einstieg in den Flieger, weil es sonst langweilig werden würde. Und was bringt es am Ende: Die Jünger Bin Ladens werfen sich einen Raketenwerfer auf den Rücken und schiessen die Flieger einfach nach dem Start ab oder werden sich wohl irgendwann die Bomben implantieren lassen. Das Wettrüsten am Flugschalter hat begonnen. Bin mal gespannt, wer denn am Ende den kürzeren zieht.

must be the Heathrow Airport, London: Till now I'm WONDERING how it is possible to do such uncoordinated work. First in transit I had to stand again in a endless row to x-ray me and my baggage the third time since I checked in in Auckland. I think I missed the duty free Kalaschnikow including ammuniation sold in the NZ2 Jumbo. When this great terminal build up and organisation. No comment. You have to experience it. There is only one description for it: Chaos. Mr. Blair should design first a working airport before he goes into war with half of the Arabic world.
But I have to add: As soon I was on board the A319 of the British Airways I was stunned by the friendly crew. It was the first time I heart that the pilot was inviting passangers to the cockpit. But to calm down the security fetiscists: It was before we started. Afterwards the cockpit door was closed according security protocoll. Beautiful times we are living in!

Habe den Pianisten im Flugzeug von Auckland nach London über Los Angeles gesehen. Leider habe ich den Anfang verpasst. Doch trotzdem war ich von der Stärke des Films beeindruckt. Das Schicksal des Juden Szpilman in Warschau beeindruckt. Der Warschauer Aufstand dürfte für viele interessant sein: Regte sich hier doch aktiver Widerstand seitens der Juden gegen die deutschen Peiniger. Die Bilder sind teils recht drastisch (Schindlers Liste lässt grüssen). Aber es wird wohl kaum möglich sein, diese auszublenden. Waren die Methoden doch erwiesenermassen bestialisch. Trotz der Perversion seitens der Deutschen wird jedoch wie in Schindlers Liste nicht schwarz-weiss gemalt. Am Ende rettet ein deutscher Offizier dem Pianist das Leben. Trotz der vielen Gemeinsamkeiten zum Spielberg'schen Meisterwerk sollte man sich Polanskis Streifen nicht entgehen lassen.
Es sei mir jedoch ein Kritikpunkt gestattet: Alle Juden und Polen reden englisch, die Deutschen reden deutsch. Etwas mehr Mut hätte hier nicht geschadet: Sprich ein polnisch-jiddisch-deutscher Soundtrack mit Untertitel wäre ideal gewesen. Leider hat hier aber wohl der Kommerz über Kunst gesiegt.
Der Pianist bei IMDB - ein kleines Meisterwerk, dass man sich nicht entgehen lassen sollte.

When we were in Christchurch we were as well visiting some of the very interesting second hand bookshops. In one of them I found the mentioned book dealing with, obviously, the energy question. It is a Pelican paperback from the year 1976. Crazy, I was three years old when this book was printed. But I was surprised: It was not the feeling to read an very old classic. Normally you smile when you read the expectations centuries old. Not in this book. The basic approach to explain everything from the energy point of view gives You a very good idea with what we are dealing here and that everything is connected with energy. Very nice for example are the numbers of the reflected and used solar energy of our homeplanet earth. The only energy input (despite the negligable thermal energy) is solar energy. This energy is first needed to keep the biosphere earth working. The generation of temperature, clouds, winds, waves, currents, and so on needs energy and this energy is coming from our nearest star - the sol. The numbers give you an idea how much is used for evaporating the water which is later condensated again and what we expiriencing as rain. This loop is the major energy consumption. The for us so important photosyntheses is one of the smallest part of the used solar energy. The second biggest part of it is reflected immediately. The biggest part is used to heat up the earth. The games with the numbers give you a good expression with how much energy we are dealing here. This is not childs play. This is the very big thing. And if you imagine how small our planet is yoou get a very good idea how much energy our sun generates and how less we are able to use of it. It is interesting: After the first reat pages you will recognize that you are is a solar vehicle. It drives with solar energy. Energy which was the result of composting sea inhabitants which were feeded by the sun. This process took a real long time. We burn the stuff in seconds.
The second part of the book deals with the various energy sources we are able to use now or which are proposed for future use. It is very interesting that the most stuff (including the nowadays "modern" fuel cell) what we use and try to use today is mentioned in the text. So you can easily compare the difficulties in the 70's of the last century and today. For example you get a good impression why photovoltaic was no option in these days (there you see for sure a change). But you see as well that all the difficulties with nuclear fission power were points of discussion. So they knew the problems with the waste since a long time and some scientists tried to stop further development to check out if we can deal with the side effects. Unfortunately mankind was again thinking not so far and nowadays the problem is getting bigger and bigger. For the farmers it is quit interesting to read (beside the fact that the book is giving a energy point of view about the food production) about the biogas. In these times there were already farms equipped with devices to use it. So there must be today a great source of information about it.
The third part is the weakest of all. But this is not surprising. It deals with the futures and we know were we are today. It looks like that mankind has still not reached the point where the energy consumption will be not increasing anymore. The car production is still high and the gap between US and Europe concerning the energy consumption per capita is still big. The energy restriction is still no point of discussion. Only in some countries like (I'm showing some proudness here, I know) Germany attempts were made to rise the energy value. This is (I know some people don't want to hear this) essential and we are not allowed to stop. This is one of the futures of our country. Sophisticated technology is needed to use alternative energies and to reduce the consumption of the fossil ones. Here is our chance. And the eco tax is a good beginning. So, I think I have now some foes more but please before sending me a bomb think! Even in Germany there are not much places where you can drive 200km/h. So why have a car which maakes 300? Or 200? This makes no sense. This is stupid. We need cars making the best of their fuel and which makes 100 max. This means saving money, effectively. Even without the eco tax. Who cares about your car. If you have problem when why use a car to compensate it. The training looks different (I will say some words about the Kiwis and their cars in a different article - it is quit funny).
One of the effects on me is that soon I will need a new job. Burning gas to create electricity is more or less equal stupid than the 300km/h car. I must say this because it iis true. And anyway - three years are enough. Time for new challenges.

Defeat is bitter. And often people are not seeing the positive behind it. They see only the fact that they have lost. People and countries are doing much to overcome defeats. Example Second World War Germany and its propaganda machine, Iraq, the Soviet Union, and so on. They all have something in common. They lying to themselves to minimize the defeat. Or they not mentioning what is in the end the same. The United Kingdom had as well some defeats in his history. One was the race to the south pole. One of my first idols, the Norwegian Amundsen, challanged the proud English Empire and won. Scott, the English guy, had died with his whole team on the way back to his homebase after he found the Norwegian flag at the south pole. The story is one for the dramas. I understand this. But what I'm not understanding is why Amundsen is the bad guy in this play. At least you have the impression after you visited the not so impressive Antarctic and Underwater World in Auckland. Scott is the hero. Amundsen? There was a Norwegian guy who reached the pole first, who challenged Scott, who was cheating (because it was said that Amundsen had no scientific interest in his mission and so he needed not too much stuff to carry around), finally who stole victory from the proud Kingdom. This is the impression you have as long you are not reading between the lines: Scott leaded his men like a platoon. Amundsen treated his guys as equals. Scott used Siberian ponies, Amundsen took dogs which proved great reliability under arctic conditions. Scott had more stuff with him, Amundsen less (I would say, this is under the circumstances not cheating but thinking). Amundsen has known the Inuit way of life and tried to adapt it. Scott was knowing the military stuff. For the British team it was a tragady but it was for sure not necessary. It shows again that the military way is not a good way. It is a stupid and idiotic kind to treat people. The officers think often they are superior to others (something you can easily see if you are talking with some retired German ones - my advice: Don't do it!) but finally they are nothing. They can not think, they can follow only commands and procedures. Like the nowadays cool Top Gun pilots sitting on their wings and looking at people like they are better. But finally they are only replacable because it is easy to give a machine commands and procedures and this will happen (the good thing is that maybe friendly fire will reduced a little bit, because the cowboy pilot with his mind in the beer glas and his finger on the trigger will vanish).
The race to the south pole showed it again who is really superior. They guy who can think and who is learning. Amundsen: One of my first heros. And this Antarctic World changes nothing: He will be a hero for me in the future as well. By the way: Amundsen not only conquered the south pole. His life is worth to be investigated. Believe me.

was a tough ride. But according the storm-o-meter it was only rough water. Our predecessors encountered very rough waters I think. At least the seats on the ferry showed some indication of a real thrill ride.