I wish I had something exciting to say as opposed to "let's post an update to show I'm still alive and despite the evils of Twitter am still capable of writing more than 140 characters at a time".

January has been a bit busy with real life, so I didn't have time for fun stuff ... although, I did have some work related fun of course. Like, I found out you can build "clouds" that actually float and look quite realistic out of helium balloons, tissue paper, glue and pillow stuffing. Creating them is a messy job, but the results are great and you get the funniest looks when you're walking down a street with a big cloud hovering over your head (bless nylon strings for being almost invisible ... )

Oh, I got a resolution for the still new year - I won't fail my reading challenge on goodreads again. Yeah, not really a challenge or a resolution, since you can pick the number of books you want to read yourself ... but I want to make a visible dent in my huge pile of unread books this year. So I haven't checked out any new TV shows, in fact, the only thing I watch at the moment is Fringe ... and Elementary if I don't forget it. It's like one of the CSI or CIS? (I never get that right, starts with a C anyway ...) shows, the cases are usually interesting enough to hold my attention for an hour, but nothing about these shows makes me want to record them or seek them out online if I missed an episode.

Anyway, how is everyone doing? Snowed in or already in spring mode?



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This time the end of the world is very well timed. It's the last day for me and quite a few friends to be in town, before going on vacation or visiting family for Christmas and it's also a Friday ... so yeah, apocalyptic party it is! Usually, we're just having a little get together to exchange presents while drinking Glühwein and eating cookies, but this time there will be games and pizza too.

I'm in charge of the "what happens next" game. For this game, you get to see a scene from a film and then you have to sit down with your team, write the next scene and present it when it's your turn. You get points for making the right guess of course, but there are also bonus points for original script, acting and such ...

I've done two of these for horror movies before, but to go with the apocalypse theme I chose disaster movies this time ... and I really had no idea how many hilariously bad movies there are in this genre (for obvious reasons you can't pick well known films for this game, so you have to dig deeper ...all the way to the bottom of the bargain bin ...). My "favourite" is one about a deadly hailstorm ... you know these white styrofoam balls that are used in various craft projects? That's what their hail was made of and there are various scenes that even show bouncing styrofoam balls. Also, the amount of styrofoam balls was apparently limited so a deadly hailstorm never lasts more than a minute. I was in tears from laughing at several points.

I hope to check in again before Christmas ... laters



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I just noticed I haven't updated here in quite a while. These days, Twitter and Tumblr seem to work better for me, since they require less time and I don't have much of that at the moment. But hey, at least I haven't walked off to Facebook, right? I don't know why life always tends to get so busy by the end of the year ... probably because not much is happening once the holidays have kicked off until everyone is back from family visits and vacations sometime in January.

So, this is what I've been up to:
https://twitter.com/dailyweirdness
http://infraschwarz.tumblr.com

Also, I'm getting a Hobbit preview for my birthday this year, how cool is that? Well, it's not specifically for my birthday, it just happens to take place on my birthday, but it's still pretty cool. The Hobbit is also the book I'm currently re-re-re-reading, I still prefer Gandalf the Grey over that other Grey fellow.



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My favourite mug died (a minute of silence, please) and it went with a bang. The handle decided to separate itself from the rest of the mug while I was about to carry it out of the kitchen, filled with tea. Now, take another minute to imagine the mess, the stupid look on my face and my sudden need for new socks and jeans. *lol*

It was so pretty, the perfect Tardis blue, the perfect size ...





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I did some work at the IFA (consumer electronics exhibition thingy ...) this week and came across two girls who did some research on internet use and one of their questions was

"What was the first website you ever visited?"

My reply to this is kind of boring actually. When we got internet I visited the website of the internet provider, set up an e-mail address, looked around a bit on the website, perhaps read a news article or two and that was it. This was of course back in the dial up days, so it probably took me an hour to do this and of course, the internet wasn't as busy back then either. I did a search for some of my favourite bands a bit later and a lot of them didn't even have a website ...

So, what's yours? Or what's your guess, if you fail to remember.



*talking Doctor Who ... I will be personally offended if the Doctor doesn't get a "I have had it with these motherfucking dinosaurs on this motherfucking spaceship!" line in the next episode. Or maybe Rory would be the better candidate to say it ... anyway, someone has to say it. Alternatively, I would accept a guest appearance by Samuel Jackson ...

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... the sadistic bastard who picks the waiting music for customer hotlines. It's going to be all death metal and industrial then, and it's going to make the ears of these mellow elevator pop lovers bleed, who pick the music nowadays ... just like my ears are bleeding now, after I had to listen to 15 minutes of bloody James Blunt! On on loop!!!

- Yes, poor spelling and/or grammar annoy me too ... but picking on someone's spelling when your actual problem isn't the spelling but the opinion you don't agree with is even more annoying. (clearly, I spent too much time on youtube today)

- "It's tradition" is probably even higher up on the stupid arguments list than "because I said so"

- We're expecting a heatwave this weekend and I saw people stocking a supermarket with gingerbread and other Christmas candy. Yes, "it's tradition" (although a very sad one), but "it's tradition" doesn't keep it from being very very stupid.

- Also, internet repair guy, yes, it's nice that my cat reminds you of your first cat, but ... just fix the internet problems, mkay? (they are still not fixed, but at least the cats got some love ...)



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You know what I hate most about or recent internet problems? They can be fixed by unplugging everything, waiting for a minute or two and then plugging everything back in. It makes no sense to me at all. But then again, I also don't understand why 90% of all windows related problems can be fixed by restarting the computer.

Olympics highlight: Going to the airfield to do some skating, running into a hockey club that did some Olympics related promotion of their sports and handed out sticks to people for some try outs. So I ended up playing hockey with other dilettantes and it probably didn't resemble anything close to hockey, but we had such a good laugh.

I'm still watching True Blood, btw, but mostly to understand what the guys on Blood Work! are talking about. Bit sad that a video blog thing on youtube is better than the actual episodes, but I'm only 4 episodes in, so it might get better.



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Internet, you make me laugh today. First I get a spam mail that pretends to be from Amazon and sounds as if master Yoda is working support now and now Twitter is down for ... you know ... reasons ... and stuff ...

Also: We expect to be back in <%= deadline %>

And apparently, summer is happening on a Thursday this year *sweating*



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Today I saw a sticker that had this written on it and it made me think. I know it's an old question really, it was probably a LJ meme too at some time, but I have never put any thoughts in it before.

Does fear of failure really hold one back from attempting to do what they want? Does this apply to me? I tend to think that if I haven't tried something I will never know the outcome and wonder for the rest of my life about what could have been, but in some cases this is still true. For example I wouldn't attempt to win the lottery because I know the chances are very very little to even get the money you invested back. Although, it's not fear that holds me back but more a case of not wanting to give the state even more money on top of all the taxes and stuff. Then there's of course a lot of stuff that just doesn't work in the real world. Like, I wouldn't attempt to fly because jumping from a high building leads to a big mess on the ground in ten out of ten cases.

Other than attempting to win the lottery I would attempt to learn to play an instrument properly. Because now I think I'm really too old and have too little time and it's just not worth spending the money on something that will never really happen.

So, what's your answer to this? Lottery is taken already ... and I think we can all agree on the one anyway.



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Someone in my grandma's neighbourhood is trying to call Batman!!!!
(excuse the classic UFO picture quality, I'm without a tripod and 16 seconds can be an eternity, if you have to hold a camera steady for that long)


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I think I overdosed on apple crumble. I felt like having some today and since I had the time I googled a recipe and managed to throw it all together without accidents. And since I had bought a whole bag of apples and since there was only so little apple crumble left for Marco I made some more ... and ate some more.

I totally blame the side effects of this overdose for feeling strangely attracted to this:



I mean, I adore him and all that, but usually not in "that" way. Is it the cane? I think it's the cane ... there's something sexy about a pimp cane ... with a skull ...

Also - weekend!!!! And I have 3 days off! Although, one of them is almost over already.


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First of all, here's my opinion on the recent LJ problems:



A German supermarket gives you a marble for every 15 Euros you spend there and if they expected me to go on a shopping spree they might be disappointed, because all but one of the marbles on the picture were given to me by a couple who didn't want theirs. I think it's a seriously silly way to try and make people buy more, but they DO represent my opinion quite well ;-)


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Kids just aren't what they used to be. Nope, that's not me, slowly but surely becoming a responsible and boring adult, whining. That's a fact! Look at this cigarette machine I came across after my last hike:



Yes, it says "smoking is unhealthy !"
Back when I was a permanent marker carrying guy, the texts me and my friends left in public places contained things like ANARCHY or FUCK or at least something about how my football club is better and yours sucks. But health advice? Seriously? Is that considered cool nowadays? *sigh* I need a cig ... :p


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I feel like I'm robbing Amazon lately.
They really deliver a book I ordered for 2.95, although, they changed the price to 12.95 (which I figured was supposed to be the correct price all along) almost as soon as I had placed my order. And today my 2.88 copy of Heartless arrived and I just checked and their price for that has now doubled too. I have a feeling they will survive the loss of round about 13 Euros though.

I'm trying to ignore everything Harry Potter at the moment ... at least until I stand in line for a ticket. It feels like my childhood is ending (not that I every was a child during the HP era) and this is just sad.

But on to the good stuff - I'm going on a nice little hike tomorrow. Fingers crossed for good weather and some inspiration for pictures. Because I'm always feeling so uninspired when I'm surrounded by grey city.



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Today I shopped at a drug store I usually don't frequent, because I needed something to drink and while I was at it I checked the shower gels ... they didn't have mine, but one that was supposed to smell like "vampires" - here's proof: Für den Biss der Verführung *rofl*

Now, what does it smell like, you wonder. Like a blood bath? A dusty coffin? A bat? A day in an old cellar? An unwashed Goth perhaps? Nope. It smells like cheap after shave. BUT I didn't take a look at the stuff ... so maybe it at least sparkles a bit?

And while I'm talking beauty stuff - weirdest clothing item I've seen in a while: skin coloured tight jeans. I walked past a wall made of some sort of metal and in the reflection of this wall I caught the glimpse of a woman that appeared to be in only a shirt. When I turned around and looked at her properly I did notice the jeans of course (butts usually don't have pockets) but even then it looked totally weird and strangely naked.

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Dear DHL, I'm still waiting for my parcel, which has left Amazon headquarters Monday night! Also, please take a look at the competitors and learn. UPS not only managed to deliver in time this morning, they also sent a girl in a nice little summer uniform!

The eclipse last night was a huge disappointment and in the end I was glad I had forgotten to take a tripod and a proper lens because I would have just carried the stuff around without being able to take pictures, since it decided to get all cloudy after the sun had set. When the moon finally became visible it looked plain ordinary like this. What a let down.





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I just checked something on Amazon and saw a book recommendation for a book called "Glühende Dunkelheit" (glowing darkness), which looked quite similar to "Soulless". Turned out it IS in fact the German translation of that very book.

Now, nothing wrong with translating books, however, totally abandoning the original title is. If you know the book (if not, I highly recommend it, if you are in need of something fun that doesn't take itself too seriously) you'll know why it's called "Soulless". While "glowing darkness" ... well ... besides the fact that darkness can not glow and that the title sounds like it's nicked from the bad poetry of a teenage wanna be goth ... doesn't refer to anything in the story.

And this isn't the first case of a totally random title I came across. A friend on goodreads pointed out something similar recently too ... so it's not just a problem with translated books either. The conclusion, the only one that makes sense, is, that there's a program (available in at least two languages) out there somewhere, that randomly creates titles that look good on book covers.



*it's not just used on romance novels, but I like to call it that ... has a certain ring to it.


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I'm in the mood for random today ... since there's nothing to complain about.

The weather continues to be suspiciously good, the world didn't end on a Doctor Who cliffhanger (it has been rescheduled to October 21st, btw ... some miscalculation, the guy says. Proves one thing, if nothing else - religious nutters make very bad mathematicians), I found a way around the "no orange Ipods" problem and got it with 20% discount ...

Anyway, random. A fanboy's wet dream (couldn't find out who edited it, it's from Tumblr and things often don't get properly credited there):

And talking about colliding fandoms - the Sherlock cast in The Hobbit?! Hell yeah! This movie starts to sound good enough to even make me want to watch it in 3D if 2D shouldn't be available. I hate 3D, btw, don't know if I ever mentioned that ... the effects might be fun but they get old fast and add nothing to the movie really and essentially, it's just a good excuse to charge you more for a ticket. Ha! There IS something to complain after all. You only have to search hard enough.

Let's quickly end this on a fun note - the ultimate screen cleaner application. You know you need it.


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It's strawberry season!
And because I have nothing else to say - here, have a picture of the thing that just made me very happy:





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So, the tackiest royal wedding souvenirs contest is in full swing in England and I have to admit I have a certain fascination with these things. Things like this show us what the human mind is really capable of ... not always in a good way though. But fear not, I didn't take an ugly mug home with me. I couldn't decide which one was the ugliest.

Washing machine news! While I was gone Marco has found us a glossy black one with built in dryer. Remember when our TV died and we wanted one that isn't boring black and ended up ordering a white one? Now, since white is the default washing machine colour, a black one is totally in order and a built in dryer means we can sell ours and have more space. Perfect. He totally deserves the ugly mug I didn't buy for him.

And why is it, that whenever you look at a video on youtube that has some kind of scientific content they suggest that you watch something "atheist" or "god" next?! Not everyone who is interested in science is into theology or anti-theology, not everyone is Richard Dawkins! (although, I wouldn't mind being Richard Dawkins, since this means I could have Lala Ward ... :p)

Also, I really need to put The Hobbit on my reading list again. I just saw the first (very bad, don't bother) pictures from the set and noticed that I don't remember some of the characters. Maybe I could get in a little Lord of the Rings re-read too before the first Hobbit movie is released.


And finally - soon to be place for random photos: http://infraschwarz.tumblr.com
Yes, it's confusing and has some disadvantages, but it comes with unlimited storage space, no ads and customizable layouts.


*apparently, that's a real name for a real condition.


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- The footage from Japan is scary ... looks like something from a post apocalyptic movie and over 1000 people are believed to be dead. My mum was able to reach her friends in Tokyo though and they are allright.

- The new green LJ header is ugly! Not only does the green clash with all the blues, most of the flowery stuff at the bottom is also covered by the navigation and you are mostly just looking at plain green. Who selects these things anyway?

- We set a new record ... we killed two potted plants in one week :-/

- I just noticed, that I tend to like really negative reviews on goodreads better than the positive ones. People seem to get much more creative when expressing their opinion when the book they are reviewing really sucked.


... yeah, I don't have any real news to talk about. I just did all the usual, boring stuff. I might just spam some more pictures, since I did play a bit with various cameras and found out that the compact camera I'm usually just using on automatic setting for a quick snap has funny stuff like a miniature filter. It blurs certain areas of the picture and makes it look as if you zoomed in on a miniature model of a city or landscape or something when you're actually photographing the real thing.



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... your world is probably looking something like this now ...



This is what happens when you set up your tripod and do a test shot of the moon while at the same time, you somehow manage to bump into the whole construction.


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- Thanks a lot for the virtual pressie, eumelkeks :D

- Happy Nikolaus, Sinterklaas ... and I think there are holidays in a couple of countries today too!!!

- And I'm greatly amused by my weather App. After being undecided about whether it's raining or snowing for hours it has finally broken down and now shows an "unavailable" weather.

- Also, it's good to see some old f-listers on LJ emerge again. Just drop the facebook habit and come back to LJ again ... you know you want to :)



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Telemarketer: (after talking about doing a short survey or something) Would you like to win 1 million Euros?
Me: No.
Telemarketer: *talks about some special offer for a lottery*
Me: Ehem, you're reading from the wrong script ...
Telemarketer: What?
Me: You're reading from the wrong script. This is the script for the "yes" option, but I said "no" ... there should be a different script for that ...
Telemarketer: What script?
Me: How should I know? Maybe it's printed on the back of the one you're currently reading ... to save paper, you know? Or maybe you're missing the page, happened to me before with a script ... what do the numbers of the pages say? Anything missing?
Telemarketer: I don't know ... I didn't get anything ... eh ... with numbers ... *hangs up*

I had a good laugh and no, I don't feel guilty at all. It's people like him who trick mostly old and lonely people into buying shit they don't want and don't need and sometimes can't even afford ...



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