Time to celebrate!

A few days ago I read on orf.at that many innovative corporations search through applicants' weblogs in order to gain insight to different private features like hobbies or party-habits. Well, because of that I cannot write about any details of the party in Graz I attended yesterday. But as you can imagine, it was great fun and it was deserved. Why?

Oh, well, forgot to say the most exciting fact: I passed my study on Monday with good success. You can call me "Mag. (FH)" from now on ;-)

Happy Birthday - #23

• 2 + 3 = 5, which is (3 x 2) - (3 - 2).

• 33 - 22 = 23

• The Knights Templar had 23 Grand Masters, the last being Jacques de Molay.

• Alexander the Great was aged 23 when he cut the Gordian Knot.

• Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated.

• Each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to the DNA of a child.

• 23 is one of "the numbers" on ABC's television show Lost.

• The human biorhythm is 23 days long.

• If you add up all the digits in 9/11/2001 you get 23.

• On a normal modern QWERTY keyboard, the 23rd letter W is right below and between 2 and 3.

• Michael Jordan's uniform number was 23 when he played for the Chicago Bulls.

(taken from wikipedia)

Final exam, birthday, world cup and other catastrophies

Four more days until my diploma exam! Finally a thunderstorm, so the heat will hopefully give way from my room, which has had estimated 35C° the last few days. I hope this will make my sleep more comfortable this night.

p.s.: will be another boring birthday on Saturday (highlights were 2002, getting up at 0300 a.m. and going to the TÜPL in Allentsteig during my military service and 2003, working from 1800 p.m. until 0400 a.m. for the final presentation in accounting).

What else can I say? Argentina vs. Netherlands was one of the worst games so far, hardly no chances, no goals and most of the play going on in the midfield. Looking forward to Italy vs. Czech Republic tomorrow. My father got a ticket for this game and flew to Hamburg yesterday. Do I envy him? Yes, definitely. But in 2010 I will probably watch some games. Hopefully...

Fernando Torres, player of Clúb de Atletíco Madrid & Spain - up and coming superstar. Has got everything a top striker needs to succeed. And he's still only 22 years old. There will be plenty more to hear from him, I promise!

People going nuts

This mail just came through the FH-mail-allocator (I wonder if ANYBODY except me read the whole mail. Well okay, I'm bored):

hallihallo,

ich habe vor drei wochen einer studentin (leider vergessen was sie
studiert) mein ladegerät geborgt, da ich auf meinem laptop versehtlich
draufgestiegen bin, und er einen totalschaden gehabt hat.

dieser ist gerade jetzt repariert zurückgekommen - gutes timing, denn wie
beschlossen beim fm4 aufsatzwettschreiben zum thema lichter mitzumachen,
und zum niedermeyer gefahren wäre um ein ersatzgerät zu bitten, haben sie
mir gesagt dass er gerade gekommen ist.

zum thema  ich wollte jetzt ein neues kaufen, doch das geht nicht, und
gleich einen neuen zu kaufen, wegen einem ladegerät würde meine
konsumkritik aufheben. darum bitte ich diejenige person, mir das ladegerät
bis spätestens heute abend vorbeizubringen, bergstrasse 20/4/4 oder
spätestens morgen bahnhof sbg 7 uhr früh. thxxxs.

des weiteren möchte ich noch anbringen, dass ich meinen dodgy mp3 player
in der fh verloren habe. er is zwar abgefuckt aber gut, ohne diesen gehe
ich nicht laufen, weil laufen ja volle fad ist aber mit musik
superherrlich. es würde gegen meine konsumkritik sprechen, wenn ich mir
einen neuen kaufen würde. also du, ich bitte dich ganz inständig diesen
roten dodgy mp3 player an den infopoint zu bringen. oder willst du
verantwortung darüber tragen, dass ich blad, schiarch und total
unausgeglichen werde, weil ich ohne musik nicht laufe.

des weiteren möchte ich dich alle dtv plus mma studenten, die durch den
hitzigen mailverkehr, sich bemusst gefühlt haben, mir ein mail zu
schreiben, bitte, schickt mir alle mails die in meine mailsbox gelandet
sind wieder. ich brauche sie - sie wahren wegweiser - zum aufsatz der am
wochenende geschrieben wird. besonders möchte ich die person aufrufen, die
durch die wörtliche stereowatschn und dann noch in doulbysourround ein
wahres feuer ausgelöst hat, mir diese zu mailen.

da es bei diesem text namens luzifer (lat. licht) sehr autobiographisch
ist, sollen sich personen, die mir in der fh nahe stehen oder mich durch
negative- oder positive emails in irgendeine Richtung gelenkt haben, sich
melden, ob ich deinen Namen verwenden darf, ob du einen Decknamen willst
den du selber aussuchst, oder überhaupt und sowieso, oder ob ich dein mail
verwenden darf oder nicht.

überhaupt möchte ich alle bitten, die mir ein Mail mal geschrieben habe -
und auf dass ich geantwortet habe, mir dieses nocheinmal zu mailen - alle
anderen habe ich mir nicht durchgelesen. bitttttttttttttte sehr sehr sehr
wichtig.

es wird ein sehr offener erlebnisbericht rund um fh, medien, russische
agenten, dalailama, liebe, neurosen, psychosen, homosexualität, drogen,
zerstörung, armut, globalisierung, tabus, gesellschaft, nasenbohren,
politik, polizei,musik, vervolgungswahn, alkoholmissbrauch, sex, musik,
masturbation, träume, werte, ideale,freunschaft, esstörungen, sport,
kreativität, revolution, falcher yoga lehrer,esoterik, komische zahlen,
....  es wird keine antworten geben aber eine menge fragen aufwerfen,....
montag punkt:00:00 auf meiner website online gestellt.

mit freundlichen grüssen,

elisabeth hauer
ps: alle Hauptdarsteller werden heute persönlich noch kontaktiert ob sie
die Rolle annehmen. Falls wir etwas gewinnen, wird das Preisgeld zur
Hälfte irgendwohin gespendet und mit der anderen eine lustige Party
gemacht.

Panini-Fever

It seems that the so called Panini-Fever did not even stop before politicians. As I read in an article from ORF teletext earlier this afternoon, a German secretary from Nordrhein-Westfalen was caught arranging and sticking new pictures into his album - during an important meeting concerning Hartz IV (the German unemployment-regulations).

As you can see above - I already finished some weeks ago. But then Panini, the manufacturer of the stickers, decided to reprint Jens Lehmann. The new #1 goalpeeker in the German team was the first player ever to be reprinted as an extra sticker. Finally I got it last week, it was an enclosure in a magazine called "Just Kick It".

I quit playing games (not with my heart)

I'm in some kind of nostalgia-mood right now and was reflecting some of the best PC games I ever played. After talking to some friend, it came out that we mostly liked the same games. Hereupon I tried to make a list of my favourite PC games, which you can find below - alright, I excluded all the sports-games and online-games and made it SP only:

01. Half-Life (1998)
02. Privateer 2 (1996)
03. Jagged Alliance 2 (1999)
04. Baldur's Gate (1998)
05. Civilisation 2 (1996)
06. Diablo (1996)
07. Age of Empires (1997)
08. System Shock 2 (1999)
09. Anno 1602 (1997)
10. Max Payne (2001)

Well, Half-Life was the best FPS ever and opened the way for the most frequently played online game ever, Counterstrike. Privateer 2 worsened my grades in school, so did most of the other games. Since Jagged Alliance 2 and its addons (Unfinished Business, Wildfire) there has not been a single game, that I would call perfect - both entertaining and breathtaking.

I wonder if I will ever play a PC game from the beginning until its end again ... maybe Diablo 3, maybe JA 3 - but it's still not sure that they will be published some day. Games scene has changed pretty much since I actively stopped playing. Nowadays it's more about GFX and coolness of the characters than about gameplay or storyline - at least I think so. At least, there is still hope when I think of relatively new games like San Andreas or F.E.A.R. (latter I was never able to play because of the configuration of myPC, that ist lightyears behind the minimum requirements of this graphical FPS).

empty as a can

Believe it or not, there can sometimes still be some sarcasm within the articles of the Salzburger Nachrichten, which seemed to be powered by some energy drink after former Austria Salzburg was taken over by its owner, a smart local billionaire .

"Spieler sind wie Dose leer"

27. Mai 2006

HELMUT SCHLIESSELBERGER

Geheimnis! Die strittigen Punkte im Red-Bull-Trainer-Vertragspoker waren: Red Bull bestand darauf, dass Lothar Matthäus seine Tochter Viola auf Rosa umtaufen lässt. Trapattoni sollte sich verpflichten, aus Corporate-Identity-Gründen stets nur "Spieler sind wie Dose leer" zu brabbeln.

Wie geht es bei Red Bull weiter? Bei der WM erwirbt Red Bull David Beckham um 100 Mill. Euro. Der Gemeinderat benennt den stadionnahen Stadtteil Taxham in Beckham um, weil Beckham das Wort Tax (Steuer) nicht mehr hören mag.

Kurz darauf kauft Red Bull Ronaldo. Für Ronaldos dringendes Wohnbedürfnis (Villa samt Garten) widmet Bürgermeister Schaden flugs 250.000 m2 Grünland in Bauland um.

Ende Juni überredet Red Bull Zinedine Zidane, seine Karriere doch zu verlängern. Der Trick: Es gelingt, Zidane mit Fotos von Thomas Winklhofer und KH Grasser zu überzeugen, dass Red Bull haarwuchsfördernd wirkt. Dann kauft man Oliver Kahn und Jens Lehmann, um Ruhe in die Mannschaft zu bringen. Beiden wird erklärt, dass nur der bessere von ihnen Nummer zwei hinter Heinz Arzberger werden kann.

Kurz darauf erste Krisen: Beckham ist verärgert, als er merkt, dass das Stadion in Wals steht und nicht, wie er dachte, in Wales. Zidane fragt jeden Tag, warum ihm keine Haare wachsen, obwohl er 14 Dosen Red Bull am Tag trinkt.

Christian Klien verliert sein Formel-1-Cockpit und wird als Zeugwart bei Red Bull versorgt. Beckham ist zufrieden: "My shoes have never been so klien."

In der Champions-League-Quali verliert Salzburg gegen den Dritten der Färöer-Liga zwei Mal mit 0:5. Das Team müsse erst zusammenfinden, heißt es. Saisonziel sei das Erreichen von Platz drei in der Meisterschaft. Nach Auftaktniederlagen gegen Altach, Ried und Mattersburg wird der Plan aufgegeben, Zidane, Beckham und Ronaldo auch bei Red Bull New York spielen und nach jedem Spiel mit einer eigens angeschafften Concorde hin- und herzuschicken. Christian Klien wird neuer Einser-Tormann.

Neue Verstärkung: Red Bull gibt auf Vermittlung von Kurt Jara die Verpflichtung des "besten Fußballers der Welt" bekannt. Stutzig macht, dass der Superstar nach Körpergewicht bezahlt werden will. Maradona kommt dann gar nicht. Er gibt an, etwas missverstanden zu haben, als ihm Raini Fendrich sagte, in Salzburg gebe es vier Monate im Jahr überall Schnee.

Tu felix Austria

uncommented

Prost! Cheers! Salute! Vashe zdorovie!

Albanisch: Gëzuar!
Arabisch: Shereve!
Armenisch: Genatsoot!
Baluchi (Iran): Vashi!
Baskisch: Osasuna!
Bretonisch: Iermat!
Bulgarisch: Na zdrave!
Chinesisch: Gom bui! (Kantonesisch), Gan bei! (Mandarin)
Dänisch: Skål!
Englisch: Cheers!
Estnisch: Terviseks!
Finnisch: Kippis!
Französisch: Santé!
Georgisch: Vakhtanguri!
Griechisch: Jámas!
Grönländisch: Kasugta!
Hawaianisch: Mahalu!
Hebräisch: Le'chájim!
Hindi (Indien): Mubarik!
Holländisch: Proost!, Op uw gezonheid!
Indonesisch, Malayisch: Selamat minum!
Gälisch (Irland, Schottland): Sláinte!
Isländisch: Skål!
Italienisch: Salute!
Japanisch: Kanpai!
Jiddisch: Mazel tov!
Katalanisch: Salut!
Lettisch: Uz veselibu!
Libanesisch: Kesak!
Littauisch: I sueikata!
Maltesisch: Sacha! Aviva!
Nigerianisch: Mogba!
Norwegisch: Skål!
Persisch: Salam ati!
Polnisch: (Na) zdrowie!
Portugiesisch: Saúde! (Galizisch), Tim-tim! (Brasilien)
Rätoromanisch: Viva!
Rumänisch: Noroc!
Russisch: Vashe zdorovie!
Schwedisch: Skål!
Serbokroatisch: ´ivjeli!
Somalisch: Auguryo!
Spanisch: Salud!
Tagalog (Philippinen): Mabuhay!
Thailändisch: Chokdee!
Tschechisch: Na zdraví!
Türkisch: Serefe!
Ungarisch: Egészségére!
Urdu (Pakistan): Djam!
Walisisch: Iechyd da!

(thanks to bier-lexikon.de)

let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

82cm snow cover, 105% over month's average. What you see on the left hand side is my alleyway in Ried. Yesterday there was a civil defense alert because of the snow masses. Right now it's not snowing anymore, but due to colder weather it's still everywhere. Well I do not care, because TV programme is good and I have not run out of food or drinks ;)

incredible, sad, mad

Blogger hinter Gittern
Anderthalb Jahren Haft - Systemkritik im Internet von Zensur bedroht

In Libyen wurde ein Blogger zu anderthalb Jahren hinter Gittern verurteilt, nachdem er in seinem Online-Tagebuch die Regierung kritisiert hatte, berichtet die Human Rights Watch. Die Verurteilung ist nur einer von vielen Eingriffen autoritärer Regierungen in die "Blogosphäre". Die Menschenrechtsorganisation hat bekannt gegeben, dass auch in Ägypten ein Student verhaftet wurde, der in seinem Blog die Regierung und islamischen Fundamentalismus kritisiert hatte.

Handbuch

Die Organisation Reporter ohne Grenzen unterstützt Blogger und hat wie berichtet kürzlich ein Handbuch veröffentlicht, in dem sie sich Tipps holen können um Zensur zu umgehen. In Ländern, in denen konventionelle Medien zensiert werden seien Blogs oft die einzige Möglichkeit um Kritik öffentlich zu machen und um unabhängigem Journalismus eine Plattform zu geben, rechtfertigt die Medienaufsichtsorganisation.

50 Artikel

In Libyen wurde der Blogger Abd al-Raziq al-Mansuri wegen illegalem Waffenbesitz verurteilt. "Die Verurteilung wegen der Waffe ist ein Trick. Die Behörden haben al-Mansuri wegen dem, was er in seinem Blog geschrieben hat, verfolgt", sagt Sarah Leah Whitson, Nahost- und Nordafrika-Beauftragte der Human Rights Watch. Al-Mansuri hat rund 50 Artikel auf der britischen Website akhbar-libya.com publiziert, in denen er die libysche Regierung und Gesellschaft kritisiert hat.

Vorwand

Bei einer Hausdurchsuchung wurden sein Computer, Unterlagen und Disketten konfisziert, al-Mansuri wurde zu den Artikeln befragt. Im Rahmen der Untersuchung wurde eine alte Pistole gefunden, berichtet die Menschenrechtsorganisation. Der verhaftete Blogger und seine Familie sind der Meinung, die Verurteilung wegen Waffenbesitz sei nur ein Vorwand um den Kritiker zum Schweigen zu bringen.

Im Fall des ägyptischen Studenten ist laut HRW noch unklar, ob das Blog der offizielle Grund für die Verhaftung war. Unmittelbar vor der Verhaftung habe der Jusstudent über Moslems geschrieben, die in einer Kirche in Alexandria Unruhe gestiftet haben, berichtet die HRW. Laut seiner Familie hat die Polizei daraufhin einige seiner Bücher beschlagnahmt und seine Artikel kopiert. (pte)

Klicken fir Esterreich!

Exceptionally, but this time in Austrish:

Klicken fir Esterreich!

webspace down

At the end of October my webspace from Inode will be disabled due to the termination of my internet account in Salzburg. I feel sorry, but it will most probably take me some time to complete the maintenance of the pictures.

football, oktoberfest & South Korea

Today was quite a nice day. At noon we went to some restaurant, in order to celebrate the 23rd marriage-anniversary of my parents. I ate some Wiener Schnitzel (nothing new, nothing special) because I did not trust the rumpsteak which was taken from a young bullock (don't really know where it comes from normally).

Afterwards I went to the stadium, Ried played against Pasching ("Superfund") in the Upper Austrian Derby. We have got a special player from South Korea, called Jung Won Seo. He's a national hero in his homecountry, something like Hermann Maier is in Austria. So today a friend of a friend of mine took five students from South Korea, who currently study abroad in Steyr, to the Fill Metallbau Arena to watch their landsman playing football. The game itself was quite boring, it ended 0-0 (although we hit the post twice), but afterwards we wanted to go to some typical regional restaurant. But they were all closed (don't know why), so we decided to attend the Oktoberfest at the Hafner (a pub in Ried). They served white sausage, brezn and wheat beer and all the other stuff that is normally served in Munich.

Those guys (three guys, one girl) were really awesome, they were really talkative, made jokes and drank some Sturm (an alcoholic drink made of sweet grapes) and ate Rostbratwürstel. We also learned something about South Korea, e.g. that they have to be in military service for two years (!) - but not comparable with Austria, they aren't even allowed to go home in the evening. Well, after having some more drinks they went back to Steyr and I was looking forward to having a shower, because it's quite cold in the evening, although the afternoon was sunny and very warm for an afternoon in September, and I was just wearing some T-shirt.

Bonjour Tristesse

Dear Blog!

I have been neglecting you again, but now it's the right time for another posting.

The whole damn, boring week I am expecting the weekend to "happen", to go out with friends and to be in good company. Guess what happens? Some are at another places, some are out and booze at another places, some bake cakes, some are tired, some are lazy. I am here, alone. Don't want to watch TV, don't want to play computer games, don't want to read a book.

It's Friday evening, I am 22 years old, what's it all about? Well, I have to accept that some are going over into their new lives, they have gfs/bfs for years and live together, but I cannot believe that I'm the only one who is different. It well may be that some circumstances have come together and this Friday is an exception, but I don't f*cking care.

What should I do? What can I do?

updating a neglected blog

It might sound crazy, but the reason why I hadn't updated this blog since June 26th, is as easy as this: I forgot it - started working, weather was fine (at least for some days) and many other reasons why I neglected this site.

The most important fact: Ried is ranked 5th in the league table of the Bundesliga, after these matches: 0-0 Wacker (H), 0-0 Pasching (A), 3-0 Red Bull Salzburg (H), 0-2 Austria (A). The next game will take place on next Saturday against the former Austrian champions from the GAK.

Trip to Ireland, part 1

As promised I’m gonna tell you the whole story concerning our trip to Ireland this weekend.

I got up at 5.45 a.m. on Friday because we wanted to leave Ried at 6 a.m. to be at the airport in Vienna about two hours before the plane takes off to Dublin. You can imagine that we did not actually leave Ried at 6 a.m., because the guy with the car didn’t hurry at all and so we finally left our hometown at 6.30 a.m., still early enough – somehow too early.

After a pit-stop in a roadhouse near St. Pölten (the driver wanted to have some breakfast, I was too nervous to eat anything) we arrived at Vienna International Airport at about 9.30 a.m. – after parking like 2km away from the terminals - we had to make a nice walk with luggage in the hot summer sun - we got together with the third guy in the doorway between terminal 1 and terminal 2. Well, two hours before the flight was still too early, so we had to wait before we could check in at the Air Lingus desk. After finishing that process we moved on to the waiting hall and had one coffee and some nice small talk, surely about Austrian football and in detail the Bundesliga.

Afterwards we moved further on and entered the gate A50 where the people for the Dublin flight had to wait for the progressing boarding process. My last flight was in 2001 (to Mallorca), so I felt quite uneasy about it. But there were no problems at all, and after 2 hours and 20 minutes in the air we finally touched down in Dublin (or should I call it Baile Átha Cliath?), Ireland (Eire). And because I want to watch TV now, the story will be retold tomorrow.

sunday bloody sunday

I know I have been very lazy lately, but I had to finish the 6th semester at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg. I'm glad I managed to get through all tests, exams and all the other things quite well. The weather is fine as well, so I was at the open air bath for a few times. Soon there will be a huge report from my trip to Dublin/Ireland where I will be standing on the pitch of the Croke Park among 88.000 other persons, listening to the U2 concert.

Please forgive me this short posting, but I have to leave again, the Confederations Cup game between Brazil and Mexico starts in ten minutes.

crazy frog, crazy world

Friday evening. Boring friday evening. Nobody else in Ried, so I have to sit in front of my screen and add another posting into my blog. Tried out the 1,3 megapixel-cam of my (relatively) new cell. That's the outcome (light is bad) - that's me, just for the case if you didn't see a pic of mine before (although there is one at the upper right corner of the blog - but that's more than two years old).

Too bad all those pics vanish from my blog when I "check out" of my flat in Salzburg - where the internet connection with all that webspace exists. Have to look for an alternative, maybe a good AND cheap one. Ha ha.

Did I already tell you that I'm nearly fed up with my current situation. Somehow for the first time I wish I had a car, so I would drive around to make the time go by. Or go to the cinema in Braunau or something like that.

Today I heard that "Crazy Frog" song for the very first time. WHAT IS THAT? Please shoot the guys who did this crime to the public. A 20 seconds ringtone that starts again and again and again, three minutes long. Is it a joke? Are some of the music-buyers in the UK crazy? Please never pay any, I repeat, any attention to the single charts. They are meaningless, tell you nothing, absolutely nothing. It's a shame for bands like Coldplay to be outnumbered in sales by such freaks, but I think their new album X&Y will be ranking on the first place when it enters the charts next week.

Today I did something I almost never did the last few years - I watched a tennis game. The one between Roger Federer, the best player in the world, and Rafal Nadal, the 19 years old wiz-kid from Spain, probably the best sand player (how is it called in English?!) in the world (aaand the nephew of Miguel Angel Nadal, the former Barcelona & Spanish captain - in football). Nadal made it in four sets, he was (by far) the better player today and meets the unseeded Mario Puerta from Argentina in the big final.

Alright, already 10 p.m. - time to do useless things again. See you.

music makes the people come together

Somehow I'm currently eager to tell you my favourite albums. Greatest hits compilations, other compilations and U2 albums stay out of the list (this time).

2004
KEANE - Hopes And Fears

There are very few albums you can hear from the first to the last song without skipping a single song. Starting with "Somewhere Only We Know", ending with "Untitled". Just great. Had the pleasure of hearing them for a short time last summer at the Frequency Festival in Salzburg. The rain and low temperature made it impossible staying until the end of the concert.

2004
SNOW PATROL - Final Straw

Don't exactly know if it's an album for insiders, or if it's already mainstream. A perfect rock/pop mix with my favourite songs like "Spitting Games", "Run" or "Chocolate". I'm glad I will hear them next month as supporting act for U2 in Dublin.

2000
ROBBIE WILLIAMS - Sing When You're Winning

A total release of seven (!) singles from this album make it one of the best pop albums ever. The likes of "Rock DJ", "Supreme", "Kids", "Let Love Be Your Energy", "Road To Mandalay", "Eternity" and "Better Man" made it a must have for me and my 219 Schillings back in 2000.

1999
TRAVIS - The Man Who

"Why Does It Always Rain On Me", their first hitsingle back then made me curious about the rest of the album. And in this point of view, I'm glad that I faced the decision of buying the album. Great songs like "Turn" (maybe you remember the video), "Driftwood" and "Writing To Reach You" make it another album you can listen to from the first until the last song.

1999
CRUEL INTENTIONS - OST

In my view the best official soundtrack ever. You certainly remember "Bittersweet Symphony", a song written by Mick Jagger and performed by The Verve. Other songs like "Praise You" from Fatboy Slim and "Every Me Every You" from Placebo complete a very special album I had even bought before I saw the movie.

1995
OASIS - What's The Story (Morning Glory)?

It was the very first album I bought with my pocket money at the age of 12. Back then I especially liked "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back In Anger", but today I appreciate songs like "Champagne Supernova" or "Some Might Say" as well. Many people say that it's probably the best Oasis album ever, and I certainly agree.

1992
REM - Automatic For The People

At first I have to admit, that I bought it back in 1998 or something like that and not in 1992, because back then I hardly knew REM. Another one of these "listen to the whole album" records with outstanding songs like "Drive", "Everybody Hurts", "Nightswimming" or "Man On The Moon". I saw REM performing live at the Wiener Stadthalle this February, and it was great although I did not expect that because of bad experiences with Schönbrunn one year before.