Double Shift
About three weeks ago I moved up from Nelson to Auckland for a new job at the University of Auckland. For all those of you who know neither Nelson nor Auckland I should probably mention that I migrated from Germany to New Zealand about one year ago (with some detours over Australia).
Since today my domains nugob.org and prettydarngood.net are also located in New Zealand. It just makes things easier for me.
One thing I realized just before is that there seems to be a problem to comment articles at the moment. I will fix that later.
I hope I will finally find some time soon to upload some pictures from all the places I have visited so far in New Zealand.
Die Suchmaschinerin
Now there IS an alternative to Google. A new search engine named Miss Dewey provides a completely new user experience.
I don't even know if search results are really accurate, but hell: Who cares?
Kill Bill
I just couldn't resist to combine these two pictures when I saw them.
Sorry Bill, don't take it personal - I just don't know another one. Cheer up!
Domo-kun
Talking about Japanese stuff. By chance I stumbled across Domo-kun. I don't know much about it, but the pictures are just hillarious. Even I don't know why they are.
What is Domo-kun? As I couldn't describe it more precisely myself I use the definition from Cardhouse (Cardhouse as in "Sorry we're Cardhouse."): "Domo-kun is a small brown open-mouthed monster hatched from an egg who lives with a wise old rabbit underground."
It also happens to be the stop-motion mascot of Japan's NHK television station.
Of course - as with all useful and useless stuff that comes from Japan - you can buy Domo-kun (alongside with tons of other products of this kind), you can build your own Domo-kun (have a look at the gallery!), and even read Domo-kun's Blog.
Here are some more pictures...
So cuuu-uuute!
"Gloomy, an abandoned little bear, is rescued by Pitty (the little boy). At first, he is cute and cuddly, but becomes more wild as he grows up. Since bears do not become attached to people like dogs by nature, Gloomy attacks Pitty even though he is the owner. So Gloomy has blood on him from biting and/or scratching Pitty. The Gloomy with blood is called Chax Colony Edition."
- from Cube Works
This Hello Kitty parody called Gloomy Bear by Mori Chakku is just one of a million examples from the probably most high-contrast country in the world: Japan. Old and new, eastern tradition and extreme western influences, minimal design and hyperkitsch, everything exits here next to each other. I just love it.
Still on my list of things to do: To live in Japan for a while. Maybe starting off in Tokyo, and once I need a break from this maniac world metropole there will still be enough other curiosities to discover. Wow, I'm looking forward to that!
Maybe it's time to figure out the other 42 things I want to do.
Towel Day
Brigitte Bardot celebrating Towel Day.
Towel Day is considered the first and only universal public holiday ever. It is celebrated by countless creatures throughout the universe since time without beginning. The origin lies mere 5 years ago, but living in an interstellar age time lost it's chronological order and became as useless as a digital watch without batteries. Probably even more.
Towel Day is a day to commemorate the (past or upcoming) death of Douglas Adams (it depends if you read this before or after his passing). He was/is/will be the father of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom.
Also Towel Day should remind you never to underestimate the value of your towel. As we all know, »any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with«. In that respect Towel Day wants to remind each and every one of us not to forget that towel when the crucial moment comes.
In the following you will find some terrestrial locals celebrating towel day.
Merry Christmas!
The Christmas Decorations Gifts Store tells us:
"Christmas German glass pickle ornaments are known world wide for their beauty and Christmas German ornament traditions. Christmas in Germany history would not be complete without this unique German pickle ornaments history. (...)
The glass Christmas pickle ornament is always the last glass ornament to be hung on the Christmas tree. The parents hide the glass pickle ornament in the Christmas tree among the other German glass ornaments. When the children were allowed to view the Christmas tree they would begin gleefully searching for the German glass pickle ornament. The children knew that whoever found the glass pickle ornament first would receive an extra little gift and would be the one to begin the unwrapping of the Christmas gifts."
Thanks to Andi to point out this tradition which is so well-known all over the world. Except in Germany.
You Won't Believe This, But ...
Have you ever heard of LSD-laced temporary cartoon tattoos which drug dealers give to school children to make them addicted?
Or of a man who is stopped by the police while drunk driving? Just after he is asked to leave his car for a sobriety test there happens an accident to another car. The policeman immediately runs to the scene to help. Using that opportunity the drunk man drives home and escapes. The next morning the doorbell wakes him up. When he openes the door the police officer who stopped him the night before accuses him that he was drunk driving. The man assures that he was at home the night before. Unsatisfied with this statement the policeman wants to see the man's car. When he openes the garage door, to his big surprise the man finds the police car parked there.
Sounds familiar? Did it happen to a friend's friend? Yes? Same here.
Now did you believe it? Did you tell it to someone else? Yes? Same here.
If I told you that this is an urban legend, would you be surprised or even embarrassed that you took it at face value without questioning if it is true at all? Yes? Same here.
However, after all I am happy that I was able to doubtlessly and willingly spread some urban legends which are so damn entertaining. As for me I had a good time hearing them, and an even better time to tell this friend of a friend's story! Gosh! How adventurous life is!
This is how urban legends work and how immensely diverse they can be. I am sure you will find some more familiar "truths".
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