That’s how Kafka’s Methamorphosis really starts reading. Rubbish, you say? Well, then take a look yourself. In Twitterature. There you find world literature not only retold in Tweets, but also made understandable.
Finally reading Kafka is fun! Never thought I’d ever say that.
After a backlash with quite some nippy days just above 0 Celsius combined with snow showers, the sun came out again today, and it is slightly getting warmer, giving hope that the 1st of May next week won’t be the coldest one in the last decade.
1st of May? Yes. That is when the motorcycle season starts in Sweden.
And since I know of at least two women who contemplate since years whether to take their license or not – here is my advice: Just do it!
If you need some more inspiration, here you go:
I borrowed the title of this video partly for the blog post – describes it best, I thought.
And if you are already out and about on your own two wheels, then you might enjoy this one:
On Youtube.com is loads more material to make you want to go out now – just search for “women motorcycle ….”
Have fun, and I hope to see some of you around on 1st of May and during the season 🙂 .
Something for the Google-pic collection – today: Earth Day.
Looks like directly from “Avatar”, doesn’t it?
Until today I didn’t know that Earth Day even exists, however, Wikipedia tells you more about it. And it is not just any Earth Day, it is the 40th this year!
So there will be some activities around it, some of it one can follow here on the official website.
I wonder how much has changed in 40 years? How and what did people do on the very first Earth Day, what where the issues then, in comparison to today?
Anyone of you who actively did anything related to Earth Day or took part in any event?
“It is about finding that light in the dark” – that is how the main actress Gabourey Sidibe describes the message of one of the heaviest movies I have seen in a long time – Precious.
And she is right, I think.
The movie is as Gabourey says much lighter than it might appear after reading what it is about. Although one is still shocked when watching it and one is close to tears. Very close in fact. So I am not sure if I want to know what the book is like… Listen to Gabourey’s interview here on kino.de.
As for myself, I once more got reminded of how nice home and my family is – and it is just horrible to think that there are so incredibly many tragedies out there. What we sometimes consider a problem seems like a farce when watching this movie.
Precious is a great encouragement to deal with whatever life throws at one, especially considering the type of “luxury problems” that most of the people watching it are dealing with in comparison to the movie’s main character.
Go and watch it!
It has a great soundtrack, too.
(Picture credit to kino.de)
OK, one cannot complain really. Spring is coming. Today we have the first noticeable plus-degrees here. The snow is melting, but no flowers in sight yet. Apart from the ones you can buy.
But – there are certain videos one can indulge in while awaiting the new motorcycle season. Like this one that two friends of mine put together.
These are the days we are now very close to 🙂 . I hope.
Skype spam. Lovely and useful as always. And look what kind of specials there are available on International Women’s Day.
Dear spammers, (or in this case: spermers?) this one wasn’t bad, but please, could you get a bit more creative next time?
Today it is time again for the most famous and most awaited Swedish skiing race – Vasaloppet. It is also the biggest and longest skiing event of its kind in the world.
Vasaloppet is always held on the first Sunday in March, and that since 1922.
Why Vasaloppet? This stretch is said to be skied by Gustav Ericsson Vasa in 1520 on his escape from the Danish king Christian II who wanted to see him assassinated. Gustav was like the name says part of the Swedish king family and was crowned as King Gustav I in 1523. Read here the full story of the legend.
The race starts in Sälen in Sweden and finishes in Mora. The distance is 90 kilometres, and nowadays for the skiing elite it takes just over 4 hours to get to the finish line. You can follow for example Daniel Tynell who is one of the Swedish elite skiers and currently on the 9th position. This is his race from 2009, and the graphics below his racing-times give you some kind of an idea of the skiing terrain. Maybe you know someone who takes part? Check them out on the same website.
But Vasaloppet is not only for elite skiers. The race is open for everyone and also for skiers from all countries. For the average participant it takes between 7 and 9 hours to finish the race, some take longer time, some are faster.
When Vasaloppet was in its baby shoes in the 1920’s a 7 hour finishing time was actually somewhat the best possible result. Nowadays the equipment and training got so advanced that this time could almost be halved.
Have a look here and see what the first Vasaloppet-start in 1922 looked like and this is the start from today.
Women were by the way allowed to participate in the first 2 years, 1922 and 1923. Without getting any prices, though. After that they were banned until 1980. Reason? It was not supposed to be good for a woman’s health and also, if women took part, the race could appear less tough. Tell that a female professional skier today 😉 .
Google honours Vasaloppet today with a special logo:
Lots of people will comment on Twitter as well, you can follow that here and find more information. Most tweets are Swedish, though. Vasaloppet has also its own YouTube-Channel and not to forget the SVT Livestream.
Check out the most important food supply for all racers here – Blueberry-soup 🙂 . 92.000 liters this year.
(Picture credit goes to Sweden.se)
Update – the 2010 winners are:
Gentlemen:
| 1 | Jörgen Brink | Hudiksvalls IF | 04:02:59 | |
| 2 | Daniel Tynell | Grycksbo IF OK | 04:02:59 | |
| 3 | Stanislav Rezac | Czech Republic | 04:03:02 |
Ladies:
| 1 | Susanne Nyström | IFK Mora SK | 04:33:07 | |
| 2 | Sandra Hansson | Norway | 04:33:39 | +00:32 |
| 3 | Sofia Bleckur | IFK Mora SK | 04:35:59 | +02:52 |
Will spring ever manage?
@caschy’s Tweet “Renamed my iPod as ‘the titantic’ so when I plug it in it’s says’ the titantic is syncing.” and @matdahl’s comment on that “What are you syncing about?” inspired me to dig out this old video:
“Fudgie the whale” – no #fail but #WIN !! 🙂
Yesterday I got pointed to this video on FuzziGalore.com:
Pure Hooligan Awesomeness: London Scooter Riding Video | Fuzzygalore.com – Girlie Motorcycle Blog.
The note I got with it was: “Memories?”
And oh yes, man, this brings back memories.
Like I already commented on Fuzzygalore, I did not go as crazy on my scooter. Probably due to the facts that it was a bit bigger (Honda SH 125i) and that I definitely was more cautious. Plus less experienced than these guys since I only took my learner’s license and later the full mc-license in London.
Anyhow, I used to ride to work in thick morning traffic, and if you wanted to get to work in a decent time, you simply had to go a bit crazy like these guys. Which was fun and risky at the same time.
When I took my full license, at my school the instructors were divided between whether to show us how to ride in the “third lane” or not. The instructor of my group denied showing us how to do that. For our own security, as he said. And that should count for something, since he used to be one of the top-paid dispatch riders in London before becoming a riding instructor. He changed profession when he got married and had family, and his wife was not overly happy about him dispatch-riding.
Anyone who has been in London and experienced these people riding knows what I am talking about. And all others may want to watch this one:
This was my commuting route, by the way:
And this is my travel companion nowadays. Currently waiting in the garage for the few bits and bobs that need to be fixed before the next season starts.
Despite the snow outside, it is not far away anymore – yay 🙂 .
When to use du and Sie « Eintauchen. A very much recommended article by Dale Askey or @daskey.
If you ever wondered what to use when visiting Germany or meeting someone from Germany, the great overview that @daskey put together might help. Print it and put it over your desks, peeps!
Reality is, that even I as a native German sometimes struggle with this. Reason: rules are not as straight anymore! People in media for example tend to use often the “du” although they never met before. This happens especially when people are in the same age group. And personally I find that quite refreshing. I must admit that I am sometimes even a bit annoyed by the continuous “Sie” and “Du” decision making. Reason is “little me” having have been spoiled with simplicity in that respect for almost 7 years now. The Brits and the Swedes simply do not have that problem. It seems only ze Germanz and the Frenchies are putting themselves in these awkward situations requiring a decision for Du or Sie, Vous or Tu… Mindboggling sometimes, really.
Another thing I like about Dale is that he chose to spend some time at my old university of applied sciences 🙂 . Hope you have a great time, mate!
(P.S.: Even without knowing him, I would not hesitate saying “du” to Dale. But, hmmm, what if I was a student? Hmmm, it should be “Sie” then, shouldn’t it? Unless he invites me to say “du”. Well, and there we go again with all that “Schlamassel“.)
With sunshine and minus twenty celsius 😉 .
Hmmmm, tempting offer on Access Moto . And after all one should support the own fashion collection. Especially when despite the snow outside preparations for next season will start happening soon.
Just a test for mobile posting via WordPress widget from Hero. Just discovered how to move and delete widget shortcuts from the screen. Thought through and intuitive, self explanatory functions overall. I love that I can calibrate the touch screen to my way of typing. And that goes faster than “normal” mobile typing. Mobile blogging here I come 🙂 !
Wha'ever! 