Hmmm, some interesting questions are raised here. When living in a country/society that still carries many physical, if not psychological, scars 60+ years after the last war ended, one often tries to put things in perspective.

Imagine that on 9/11, six hours after the assault on the twin towers and the Pentagon, terrorists had carried out a second wave of attacks on the United States, taking an additional 3,000 lives. Imagine that six hours after that, there had been yet another wave. Now imagine that the attacks had continued, every six hours, for another four years, until nearly 20 million Americans were dead. This is roughly what the Soviet Union suffered during World War II, and contemplating these numbers may help put in perspective what the United States has so far experienced during the war against terrorism.

The rest of the article here.

From our very own Landeszeitung Luneburg:

A GERMAN newspaper has apologised for accidentally placing a utility company advertisement for “the gas of tomorrow” inside a full-page story on the Nazi killing of Sinti (Gypsy) people in Auschwitz concentration camp.

This is actually almost a year old, but it was brought to my attention yesterday. The article is here.

Du alter Hase!

Fat German Rabbits to Feed Poor.

An east German pensioner who breeds rabbits the size of dogs has been asked by North Korea to help set up a big bunny farm to alleviate food shortages in the communist country. Now journalists and rabbit gourmets from around the world are thumping at his door.

Kill da Wabbit!

Kill da Wabbit!

About a block from our house, a bridge called the Reichenbachbrücke is being rebuilt. The construction will last about a year and it has already led to a significant increase in traffic driving past our house as a result of drivers taking detours due to the bridge being closed. As a result of the new bridge, a few trees have to be cut down. A few local environmentalists are not cool with that. In fact, they are outraged, OUTRAGED! I tell you. So outraged that they have climbed up into the trees and won’t come down. They have brought tarps and sleeping bags with them along with lots of food and warm clothing. They have hung up a large sign between two of the trees with a clever slogan: “Kopf benutzen, Bäume schützen, Bäume benutzen.” A few people from all over Germany have joined them. Those that don’t fit in the tree have pitched a tent below and they are acting as a sort of support team for the tree dwellers.

Way to stick it to The Man, man.

That’ll show ’em.

Same procedure as every year, James…
More info here

A year ago today I was having a heart attack. Yeah! The aftermath of that was definitely a defining experience for me this past year. 3 hospital visits and a 3 week Reha stay, lots of pills, needles, blood, poking, prodding, hoses, tubes, not to mention lots of anxiety and just a general feeling of WTF?…. and I’m feeling pretty good. I go jogging at least twice a week. I quit smoking. Well, I still might sneak a puff from someone every now and then, but that has become a seldom occurrence. I try to eat better and drink more water and less alcohol.

Chillmost’s favorite albums of the year:

1. Rather Ripped by Sonic Youth
2. The Greatest by Cat Power
3. Awesomer by Blood On the Wall
4. Dozemarypool‘s eponymous debut

Other year highlights include…

• Visited the following places:
  • Rome, Italy
  • Copenhagen, Denmark^{1, 2}
  • Berlin
  • Amsterdam
  • Florida
  • Connecticut
• Turned 30
• Purchased Fender Stratocaster
• Quit band of last 5 years
• Started search for new musical directions

The trip to Rome was one of the highlights. That was a lot of fun. Another bright blip on the timeline of 2006 was my friend Bob visiting me from New York. We braved the Hamburger Reeperbahn, the Berlin party-scene and the Amsterdam red-light district. It was a whole lot of the kind of fun you don’t blog about.

And of course, I rocked. Hard.

First time visitors to Lüneburg and new residents may notice that a lot of the city’s buildings are crooked. This is due in part to the old salt mining industry that made the city very wealthy in the Middle Ages. Here is more information about this from Erik Meinhardt (pdf, loads kind of slow, pg. 28).

When I first lived in Lüneburg I lived in a WG. Our building was so crooked, that when you chopped vegetables or fruit in the kitchen, you had to hold on to them tightly or put some sort of barrier at the end of the table. If you let go of a tomato or an apple, it would roll off of table, across the floor, out the door and into the hall. Then, if Steffi had her door open, it would roll into her room and clear to the other side of the house. Good thing she didn’t have a door leading to a balcony, otherwise the fruit would probably roll across the street into the park. Apparently, the neighbors in the apartment upstairs had the same problem because we could hear it happening. First we would hear a thud and then the sound of whatever it was that was dropped, rolling across the floor, followed by the sound of feet shuffling as the person chased after it.

While searching on YouTube I found what appears to be a student film with a humorous take on this phenomenon. It is in German, but the sight gags are pretty funny.

Das Lü-Syndrom: Part 1, Part 2.

My buddy Jens totally rocks. He gave me this and this for Christmas even though we’re both heathen non-believers. I gave him a bottle of Aquavit. His gift is way better than mine.

I have just a few presents left to shop for. Shopping in the Lüneburg city center can be quite annoying at this time of year. The Marktplatz is packed with people doing the same thing I’m doing, namely getting their last minute shopping done. The bonus of all this is stopping for a nice hot Glühwein on the way home.

You gotta watch it with that stuff though. Too much of it will have you puking into the Ilmenau.