Lost in Translation

Hajimemashite.
Watashi wa [insert name here] desu.
Uiin ni sunde imasu.
Gakusei desu.
Dozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Remember this blog entry? Back then i had just learned that i was going to live in China and teased you, my dear readers, about it.

So, now, guess what. Look at the title of the blog entry again. And you'll know where to find me this autum.

If the title doesn't tell you anything, go watch the movie ;-)
I just ordered the DVD.

Gran Torino

Yesterday a friend invited me to a concert, last minute, because he had a ticket left.
Jamie Cullum. Not the name of my friend, but the name of the guy who played ;)

Well, what can i say. That Jazzie stuff is not my kind of music, but the man's good. I mean, was fun, the concert and all. The guy loves the crowd and knows how to handle it.
My favourite was that he turned a sitting-concert into a standing concert. He managed by performing Cry Me A River, and whilst doing so walking into the middle of the audience with his whole band. So, obviously, people stood up to see him, first the ones around and then more or less all people. You know, game theory, like in the football stadium, the good ol' prisoner's dilemma. We all still would've seen him more or less ok if we all had remained on our seats, but just the thought 'if i get up i'll see better than the others' leads to some people standing up and then everyone has to.

Two shaky impressions from where i was sitting:


On the second one the guy's standing on his piano. Unfortunately my memory card was full when he moved into the crowd.
If you want to see a bit better what it was like, and actually the main reason for me blogging about the concert: once again, amazing how many people record concerts with their cameras, or even more so with their mobile phones. iPhones all over. So just head over to here or here to get an impression of yesterday's concert. No need that i upload any videos, youtube is already full of it, including recordings with not-even-bad microphones.

Mmmmh, technology.

Before the concert started they even projected a line on the wall asking people to upload their pics and videos to a fan section on Cullum's webpage.

And of course, since he's a Brit, they always come across sympathetic when talking. Quote: "Do whatever you feel like, jump around, throw underwear or money, talk!" or something like that.

ps: if you're wondering about the title of this blog entry: Jamie Cullum wrote the soundtrack, or at least part of it, of Gran Torino. And the title song was the last song he performed yesterday. Clint Eastwood is into Jazz, that's why he got this guy for the soundtrack.
Damn good movie. I missed it in cinemas, but now you can get the DVD for less than five Euros around here, just watched it two weeks ago. If you haven't seen it, go get it!

Cheers.

Delft

Guess where i spent my last weekend:


Yes, that's right, in the Netherlands. Visiting a friend in Delft. Lovely city, nevermind the typical cloudy/rainy weather. Go there yourself if you haven't already.

Once again i was surprised how near everything is in Holland. 15 minutes by train and you're in Rotterdam, 15 minutes into the other direction and you're in The Hague. "Different cities", yesyes.

About Dutch, the language: you might have heard that it sounds funny for us German-speakers. Oh yes it does. Last weekend i've learned that it's also the other way round, i.e., German also sounds funny for Dutch people =)

Huren?

"Heeren" means gentlemen, at least on toilet doors. Funny enough, to use this logo for it, as seen in a student dorm. Especially considering the fact here in Austria we say "we drink beer, we piss Hei..."

On to more Lucullan delights:

I ate what you might call Dutch sushi: fresh herring with onions. Good.
Bit slippery to eat, though.

If you're more into sweet stuff: when in Holland, put some butter on your bread and then complete it with vruchtenhagel and chocolate vlokken. Mmmh.

And now to very yummy Dutch Vla. This one comes out of its gable-top carton in stripes, like toothpaste, but tastes much better.

Vanilla-Caramel vla with hagelslag on top.

The three-coloured vla with the three-coloured vruchtenhagel on top. Mmmh.

And in the end: fresh stroopwafels from Delft's street market.

Mahlzeit!

Block Tetris

Addictive Flash games, you know? I just stumbled upon one that was inspired by this video.
Mmmh, Tetris.
Enjoy.

Perfektionierer

#German blog entry, sorry

Wie die meisten meiner Leser wissen, arbeite ich in Operations Research. Kurz gesagt, Optimierung bestimmter Prozesse. Deshalb hat mich folgender Buchtitel amüsiert:

Gesehen heute Morgen, in der Auslage eines Buchgeschäfts, das "bis auf Weiteres geschlossen" bleibt.

Warum der Optimierungswahn uns schadet - und wer davon wirklich profitiert. Sollte ich mich angesprochen fühlen?
=)

Naja, zumindest perfektioniere ich nicht. Könnte man sagen. Heuristiken werden schließlich da angewandt, wo das finden einer optimalen (perfekten?) Lösung zu aufwändig oder unmöglich ist.

Elmekc

Do you know the toothpaste Elmex? Around here - Austria - it is the one recommended by dentitsts. Well, anyways, it's a good one. If you buy it here it is produced by its inventors.
In Russia it looks like this:


Gotta love that Cyrillic spelling. I especially like their "KC" for X. Hehe.
And interestingly enough that Elmex tube also had a Colgate logo on it. So i guess they produce it in licence for that market.

Anyways.