Zürich

Last Sunday and Monday I was in Zürich, Switzerland. I had a job interview there -- my freelance work is coming to an end, so I must find something new. But nothing is decided yet.

It's a three-hour drive from Augsburg to Zürich, passing briefly through Austria around the east end of lake Bodensee via Pfändertunnel. Through a happy coincidence my sister has two good friends who live in Wallisellen close to Zürich, so I could visit them and stay there for the night, making it a convenient two-day trip.

It was a beautiful, not warm but sunny, autumn day, and it was my first ever visit to Zürich. To get an overview of the surroundings, I took the tram up to Uetliberg, the 'house mountain' of Zurich. The lookout tower on its top offers an outstanding view in all directions, down to the city and to lake Zürichsee.

Out of the lake, through the center of the city, flows picturesquely the river Limmat, which is crossed over by a number of bridges. Zürich has a mixture of old traditional houses and modern buildings.

Here is a platform of the main train station. I like the photo with its lights composition and the strong vanishing point perspective.

Chocolate Rain

Just something for the tuckerbag...



Now that was the original. 72 million views at the time of writing. And here are some inspired vids:

• South Park version
• Family Guy version
  
• Tré Cool (the drummer of Green Day) version
  
• Pop-Punk version
• Chad Vader version (my favourite!)
• Vanilla Snow version (listen to the lyrics... no, better don't.)
  

A Samba Party

Yesterday I went to a "Samba Party" organized by the Brazilian community of Augsburg. Strong Caipirinhas and hot rhythms!

Schloss Linderhof

Letzten Samstag besuchte ich Gregor, meinen Freund und ehemaligen Impro-Spieler, in den Bergen. Da das Wetter arg kalt und nass war (siehe erstes Foto, das war der erste Schnee, auf 900 m Höhe), kürzten wir die geplante Bergtour ab und machten dafür etwas Kulturprogramm:

Besichtigung von Schloss Linderhof. Das Lieblingsschloss unseres bayerischen „Märchenkönigs“ Ludwigs II.

Erbaut 1874 bis 1878 nach dem französischen Vorbild des Schlosses von Versailles, aber 20-mal keiner, liegt es in der bescheidenen Größe eines besseren Einfamilienhauses in einer idyllischen Lage, quasi im Sattelpunkt eines in Ost-West-Richtung verlaufenden Tales. Senkrecht dazu, nord- und südlich des Schlosses geht es eine terrassierte Anlage den Hang hinauf. Einen Spritzbrunnen gibt es auch, eine 22 Meter hohe Fontäne.

Zwei besondere Schmuckstücke im umliegenden Schlosspark sind aber die Venusgrotte, eine künstlich erbaute große Höhle mit Teich, und der orientalistische Pavillon "Maurischer Kiosk".

Limericks

There was a young man at Devizes
Whose ears were of different sizes.
One was so small,
It was no use at all
But the other won several prizes.

There was a young wife from Antigua
Who remarked to her spouse, "What a pigua!"
He retorted, "My queen,
Is it manners you mean,
Or do you refer to my figua?"

There was a young lady named Banker
Who slept while the ship lay at anchor;
She awoke in dismay
When she heard the mate say,
"Now hoist up the topsheet and spanker!"

A tutor who tooted a flute,
Tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to the tutor,
"Is it harder to toot, or
To tutor two tooters to toot?"

(source)

Ammersee

Ich habe noch schöne Bilder vom Ammersee, wo ich letzten Montag (Feiertag 3. Oktober) eine Freundin besucht habe. Das war der letzte noch wirklich sommerliche Tag.

Pictures from Ammersee, the largest lake within 1 hour drive from Augsburg, where I had visited a friend last Monday (3rd October, Germany's national holiday). This was the last day of real summer.

The Bible in Lego

I have just come across a website that's amazing. Some guy, his name is Brendan Powell Smith, has created more than 4000 diorama scenes with Lego bricks and minifigures that tell stories from the Bible.

His project is called The Brick Testament and you can view it at www.thebricktestament.com.

I find it great. It's done with lots of labour and love, and the result is funny in such an absurd, because naively true to letter, way. It reflects a lot of my own thoughts and feelings when reading the Bible, a book that remarkably many Christians seem to have never really read -- or otherwise they wouldn't be.

Iceland in my living room

I moved the furniture around in my living room and used the opportunity to make one of my photos from Iceland an eye-catcher.

In poster size, mounted frameless on an exanded plastic slab (Hartschaumplatte), with an indirect light creating a soft "light frame" behind the picture (my own invention!), the mighty Skógafoss now gushes in my living room.

The original photo -->