Notes from Germany
I am an American expat living in Germany. It's a far away land on the other side of the ocean. It's interesting and often weird here. If you read this and want to comment then email me at nate(the at symbol)chillmost.com. If you find any spelling or grammar mistakes, you can keep them.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Is U.S. like Germany of the '30s?
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
What anti-Americanism?
German Conservatives Call For Ronald Reagan Square in Berlin | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 08.06.2004
Venus Transit
Yesterday I saw the Venus Transit. It was pretty cool. I observed it using 2 methods.
The first method was the tried and true old school pin-hole camera learned in Boy Scouts. I took a large card board box and poked a small clean hole in it about 3-mm in diameter. I put said box over my head and inside the box held a small white piece of cardboard up upon which the image of the sun was projected. I'm sure I looked rather interesting to my colleagues when they found me standing in front of my second story wide-open office window with a large box over my head. Hmmm.
The second method was using a gradient piece of thick film. That was the method not recommended by experts but we were safe about it. Through the plastic I could barely see a grey circle with a small black dot in it.
I wish I could have taken pictures but I don't have the right gear. Instead you can look at these awesome pictures I found here.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
On friday as i came home from work, i saw a Fettes Brot CD in our mailbox. Just the CD without the holder. Because I don't have the key, I had to wait until M. got home to get it out. Did I loan a Fettes Brot CD to someone? Did M.? What's the deal? M. just handed me the CD and on the back was a URL written backwards. So I typed it in forwards and it took me to Peacetreaties.net which says this:
Why not make a friend out of a potential enemy by signing a Peace Treaty?Hmm, was this specifically for me or is it some sort of viral marketing word of mouth thing? Am I the only one in my street to get one of these CDs? Anybody that knows me and knows where I live, also knows that I'm a pretty peaceful guy and that I don't go around looking for trouble.
Why shall we wait any longer for peace from the governments? We, the people, can create our own peace between ourselves! The Personal Peace Treaties are a fantastic way to do that - and to prevent warfare. The idea is simple. You find someone sympathetic from a folk, country or religious group which is in conflict with yours, and you promise each other in a treaty there three things
1. that you will never fight each other with weapons
2. that you will respect your cultural, ethnical and religious differences
3. that you will try to find peaceful solutions in view of looming conflicts.
What could it all mean?
