Today I used my Bresser telescope for the first time.
My room window is Eastbound.
The sky was partly cloudy, the temperatures were quite autumn like. But I was sitting inside at my window.
I was lucky.
When I spotted the brightest spot available at the time, I realized soon after that it was the Planet Saturn. It showed a clearly visible white disc (the planet body), surrounded by an equally white belt disc around its belly.
To make sure, I checked the internet.
Saturn rose on the Eastbound night sky.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Saturday, November 12, 2005
New telescope
Today, I bought a telescope.
I bought my first telescope.
It's a Bresser Refracting Telecope.
Art.No. 45-11600 Arcturus
Scope of supply:
* Hard-top case
* Aluminium tripod
* Zenith mirror
* 1,5x Umkehrlinse
* Compass
* Moon map
* Accessories rack
Technical data:
* Type: Refracting Telescope
* Aperture: 60 mm
* Focal Length: 700 mm
* Lichtsammelvermögen: 73,47
* Magnification: 35x - 262x
* max. expedient magnification: 120x
* Mounting: Azimuthal
* eligible for moon oberservation,
not eligible for planet oberservation,
not eligible for Deep Sky observation.
* Earth observation: eligible
* Photography: not eligible
* Tracking engine: not eligible
* Autostar handbox: not eligible
* Diameter ocular-opening: 31.7 mm
* elektronical ocular optionally available
* Weight: 2000 g
The price was 34.45 EUR.
Friday, October 21, 2005
You are Germany
You are Germany is a motivation campaign:
http://www.du-bist-deutschland.de/
It is supported by 20 German Media companies.
A number of artists give their voice, too.
The essence of the campaign is:
You are Germany =
You can build and design Germany.
You are Albert Einstein =
You can become a new Albert Einstein.
I think it's a great campaign.
http://www.du-bist-deutschland.de/
It is supported by 20 German Media companies.
A number of artists give their voice, too.
The essence of the campaign is:
You are Germany =
You can build and design Germany.
You are Albert Einstein =
You can become a new Albert Einstein.
I think it's a great campaign.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Robbie Williams - Intensive care
The latest album of Robbie Williams
is called Intensive Care.
I just listened to the album commercials on TV
and thought: Dang, ain't this Sting singing ??
THIS COWBOY SONG
Performed by Sting
Written by Sting
Courtesy of A&M Records, Inc.
from the movie Terminal Velocity from 1994
Embarrassing.
Sampling is ok but then the album title should rather say:
Sting
featuring Robbie Williams
is called Intensive Care.
I just listened to the album commercials on TV
and thought: Dang, ain't this Sting singing ??
THIS COWBOY SONG
Performed by Sting
Written by Sting
Courtesy of A&M Records, Inc.
from the movie Terminal Velocity from 1994
Embarrassing.
Sampling is ok but then the album title should rather say:
Sting
featuring Robbie Williams
Sunday, July 10, 2005
The music of Teresa Teng
I got to know the music of Teresa Teng when I was watching a 1996 Hong-Kong-Chinese love movie called Tian mi mi (English title: Comrades, almost a love story, German title: Hong Kong Love Affair).
You'll probably listen to some of Teresa Teng's most favourite songs (Tian mi mi and others) when visiting a Chinese restaurant. Teresa Teng used to be a very famous singer in the chinese community.
It is said that Teresa Teng had been just as well famous in Japan. This is pretty surprising as she had to start from scratch when she arrived in Japan.
I think Teresa Teng must have been a lady with a lot of style from what I heard. It seems that she was a sensitive person and walked her life for whatever reasons on a pretty small ridge.
As it seems, there was no one to accompany her on her walk there.
I think every sensitive person deserves to be accompanied by a comrade.
Which brings me back to the movie Tian mi mi.
You'll probably listen to some of Teresa Teng's most favourite songs (Tian mi mi and others) when visiting a Chinese restaurant. Teresa Teng used to be a very famous singer in the chinese community.
It is said that Teresa Teng had been just as well famous in Japan. This is pretty surprising as she had to start from scratch when she arrived in Japan.
I think Teresa Teng must have been a lady with a lot of style from what I heard. It seems that she was a sensitive person and walked her life for whatever reasons on a pretty small ridge.
As it seems, there was no one to accompany her on her walk there.
I think every sensitive person deserves to be accompanied by a comrade.
Which brings me back to the movie Tian mi mi.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Deep impact of a fridge
Today, a copper fridge released by a space probe named Deep Impact ("the car") intentionally hit a comet named Tempel 1. This is pretty much the truth.
The complete space probe was lifted into earth orbit and released into space some 172 days ago with a speed of about 10.2 m/s (37,000 km/h or 20,000 miles/h). It took a big amount of propulsion energy to get it up to this speed.
The produced thrust was big enough to get the probe into space and let her leave earth gravity. However, it wouldn't have been big enough to directly escape from our solar system. For major deceleration or acceleration manoevers, Deep Impact would have needed the assistance of other planets of our solar system.
Alternatively one could have taken an additional rocket into space but that was no serious option. ("If it's difficult to take a car into orbit, how would one be able to take a big truck there..."). Any time consuming deceleration or acceleration manoevers were abolished for Deep Impact.
As a result, Deep Impact ("the car") was shot into space without brakes but with a copper fridge on his loading space.
Europe started a similar space probe named Rosetta in 2004 for going to a comet named Tschurjumow-Gerasimenko. This mission will complement the direct approach of Deep Impact. It is intended to perform a soft landing on the comet's surface in 2014. It has no own brakes either. However, it uses the other planets of our solar system to speed up to the same speed as the target comet (as a "free-rider"). Disadvantage with Rosetta: It takes a hell of a time.
I wonder if these two missions will bring any reasonable results for the human kind apart from being great PR successes ? Am I an ignoramus ?
The complete space probe was lifted into earth orbit and released into space some 172 days ago with a speed of about 10.2 m/s (37,000 km/h or 20,000 miles/h). It took a big amount of propulsion energy to get it up to this speed.
The produced thrust was big enough to get the probe into space and let her leave earth gravity. However, it wouldn't have been big enough to directly escape from our solar system. For major deceleration or acceleration manoevers, Deep Impact would have needed the assistance of other planets of our solar system.
Alternatively one could have taken an additional rocket into space but that was no serious option. ("If it's difficult to take a car into orbit, how would one be able to take a big truck there..."). Any time consuming deceleration or acceleration manoevers were abolished for Deep Impact.
As a result, Deep Impact ("the car") was shot into space without brakes but with a copper fridge on his loading space.
Europe started a similar space probe named Rosetta in 2004 for going to a comet named Tschurjumow-Gerasimenko. This mission will complement the direct approach of Deep Impact. It is intended to perform a soft landing on the comet's surface in 2014. It has no own brakes either. However, it uses the other planets of our solar system to speed up to the same speed as the target comet (as a "free-rider"). Disadvantage with Rosetta: It takes a hell of a time.
I wonder if these two missions will bring any reasonable results for the human kind apart from being great PR successes ? Am I an ignoramus ?
Monday, July 04, 2005
Heavy summer rain
This afternoon there was a heavy summer rain in town. It also gave my neighbourhood a visit. I was pretty incompetent freezing it on the photo. Well, you must use your imagination. Look at the roof of the other house... The rain drops looked like half transparent pieces of a big rope.Pretty neat, as long as you're inside, of course.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Reaching our hearts
Today I made an interesting observation about band singers.
Actually, I made this interesting observation in combination with an additional observation that I did yesterday.
The thing was: Yesterday evening I was listening to a live concert of a pretty known pretty new German band called Silbermond (Silvermoon), http://www.silbermond.de. The female singer was very communicative even picking one guy with a fan T-Shirt out of the audience and inviting him onto the stage for a while.
However, generally the audience was treated like a body, i.e. spoken to as "you guys here in...". Unfortunately (and probably understandable), this is pretty usual and one has no right to lament on this.
What made this interesting, however, was that the singing was - well - _allright_, possibly even good if you'd been a fan of that band.
Now, today I was visiting another concert of a local Big Band, http://jass-concert-band.de. They were performing very skillfully. The female singers were rotating and their singing extremly well.
Their voices were just great. No supporting music needed, they hit the tones. They faded, they rose, they were so technically good. Them being your pilots and your plane would never crash.
However, one interesting aspect caught my eye:
Neither of the band singers (not yesterdays, not todays) really reached the hearts of the audiences. Nor did they even try.
Of course, one might say: Well, why should they want to get to your heart ? All right: But isn't that what's music is about ? In my honest opinion music is not mainly a profession or for fun: It's for getting in contact with our feelings. So, in my point of view, these great singers just missed a chance, a chance to become immortal, a chance to leave a trace.
But why did they fail to reach the hearts of the audience and what could they have done to take advantage of the situation and top their performances by really getting through to the hearts of the listeners ?
Let's look at the singers of todays Big Band: These singers were totally balanced and listenening to themselves, very concentrated, very inwardly directed. They could play with their voices, let it steplessly fade or rise and highlight certain tones. But just the sounds actually left their lips.
No look for the world around really, never showing that they were aware that there is a world outside of their heads.
What they didn't do is: At no point of time did they try to play with their voices in direction to the audiences. So, I think that's the answer: To take the audience for serious.
If you're an experienced and balanced singer, this should be possible for you.
The feeling I had was: The female singer, let's call her Susi, bridged a gap of air of about 95%. Of course, the sound got ahead but not the feeling. Too bad, as it just would have needed a little push.
The second singer, let's call her Lena, in that regard was worse: The air behaved like foggy cotton to her voice. The emeotions got stuck and were sucked away some 80% past her lips. And again I'm not talking about the sound here but just about the emotional aspects.
My personal conclusion is:
To make my point a little clearer:
Imagine you were a singer: Would other people be able to hear your singing from a distance ?
How far does your voice carry ? 1 meter, 2 meters, 10 meters ?
Can you vary the distance that you want your voice to carry ?
Do you know what I mean ?
Can you point your voice to certain points in the room ?
Can you talk to a single person in the crowd over a distance of 10 meters ?
The answer is: Of course you can !
Ever tried to shout at someone on the other side of the train station ?
Ever tried to talk to someone on the other side of the river ?
How did you do it ? By the power of your voice ?
Or possibly by the clarity and focus of your voice ?
That's what I mean.
Talking to the needle in the crowd.
I think, a singer should be able to use his voice like a tool and also should use this ability. For his own sake and immortality and for the joy of his/her audience.
Actually, I made this interesting observation in combination with an additional observation that I did yesterday.
The thing was: Yesterday evening I was listening to a live concert of a pretty known pretty new German band called Silbermond (Silvermoon), http://www.silbermond.de. The female singer was very communicative even picking one guy with a fan T-Shirt out of the audience and inviting him onto the stage for a while.
However, generally the audience was treated like a body, i.e. spoken to as "you guys here in...". Unfortunately (and probably understandable), this is pretty usual and one has no right to lament on this.
What made this interesting, however, was that the singing was - well - _allright_, possibly even good if you'd been a fan of that band.
Now, today I was visiting another concert of a local Big Band, http://jass-concert-band.de. They were performing very skillfully. The female singers were rotating and their singing extremly well.
Their voices were just great. No supporting music needed, they hit the tones. They faded, they rose, they were so technically good. Them being your pilots and your plane would never crash.
However, one interesting aspect caught my eye:
Neither of the band singers (not yesterdays, not todays) really reached the hearts of the audiences. Nor did they even try.
Of course, one might say: Well, why should they want to get to your heart ? All right: But isn't that what's music is about ? In my honest opinion music is not mainly a profession or for fun: It's for getting in contact with our feelings. So, in my point of view, these great singers just missed a chance, a chance to become immortal, a chance to leave a trace.
But why did they fail to reach the hearts of the audience and what could they have done to take advantage of the situation and top their performances by really getting through to the hearts of the listeners ?
Let's look at the singers of todays Big Band: These singers were totally balanced and listenening to themselves, very concentrated, very inwardly directed. They could play with their voices, let it steplessly fade or rise and highlight certain tones. But just the sounds actually left their lips.
No look for the world around really, never showing that they were aware that there is a world outside of their heads.
What they didn't do is: At no point of time did they try to play with their voices in direction to the audiences. So, I think that's the answer: To take the audience for serious.
If you're an experienced and balanced singer, this should be possible for you.
The feeling I had was: The female singer, let's call her Susi, bridged a gap of air of about 95%. Of course, the sound got ahead but not the feeling. Too bad, as it just would have needed a little push.
The second singer, let's call her Lena, in that regard was worse: The air behaved like foggy cotton to her voice. The emeotions got stuck and were sucked away some 80% past her lips. And again I'm not talking about the sound here but just about the emotional aspects.
My personal conclusion is:
- The singers were not aware of this emotional gap.
- The rest of the audience did not realize this gap (and therefore gave inadequate feedback to the singers).
- The audience was polite.
- The audience was not used to and prepared for receiving emotional broadcasts from a singer.
- My own perception might have been incorrect.
- I was too critical.
- I saw possibilities that nobody was really interested in sending nor receiving.
- The singers didn't want to build an emotional thread to the audiences hearts.
To make my point a little clearer:
Imagine you were a singer: Would other people be able to hear your singing from a distance ?
How far does your voice carry ? 1 meter, 2 meters, 10 meters ?
Can you vary the distance that you want your voice to carry ?
Do you know what I mean ?
Can you point your voice to certain points in the room ?
Can you talk to a single person in the crowd over a distance of 10 meters ?
The answer is: Of course you can !
Ever tried to shout at someone on the other side of the train station ?
Ever tried to talk to someone on the other side of the river ?
How did you do it ? By the power of your voice ?
Or possibly by the clarity and focus of your voice ?
That's what I mean.
Talking to the needle in the crowd.
I think, a singer should be able to use his voice like a tool and also should use this ability. For his own sake and immortality and for the joy of his/her audience.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
President elections in Iran
Source: Yahoo News, Germany
Samstag 25. Juni 2005, 22:15 Uhr
Samstag 25. Juni 2005, 22:15 Uhr
Brüssel reagiert zurückhaltend auf Wahl in Iran
Brüssel (dpa) - Die EU-Kommission hat sehr zurückhaltend auf den Ausgang der Präsidentenwahl in Iran reagiert. Man erwarte, dass der neue Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad die Forderungen des Volkes nach demokratischen Reformen beachte, erklärte eine Sprecherin in Brüssel. Das gelte auf für die Unterstützung der Menschenrechte und die Einhaltung des Rechtstaatlichkeit. Die Beschwerden über angebliche Unregelmäßigkeiten bei der Wahl seien ein ernsthaftes Problem, das schnell geklärt werden müsse, so die Sprecherin.
Translation into English:
Saturday 25 June 2005, 22:15
Brussels reacts reservedly to elections in Iran
Brussels (dpa) - The European Union commission has very reservedly reacted to the result of the president's elections in Iran. One expects that the new president Mahmud Ahmadinedschad considers the demands of the people for democratic reforms, explained a spokeswoman in Brussels. That includes the support for human rights and the adherence to legal rights. The complaints over alleged irregularities with the election were a serious problem, which had to be clarified fast, so the spokeswoman.
*********************************************************************************
Some remarks:
--> The new president of Iran was said to be elected by about 62.2% of the voters. His competitor was said to have collected about 35.3% of the votes.
--> A spokeswoman of the European Commission (i.e. of the European government) pointed out that:
* ...the Iranian people expected democratic reforms.
* ...that legal rights in Iran had to be respected by the Iranian government.
* ...that there were rumours about anomalies with the elections.
Some thoughts about this:
-> People usually vote for the politicians who promise to them the improvement of their living conditions.
-> The winner of the Iranian president's election is obviously not the wished candidate of the western governments.
-> Where did a majour group of the people of Iran articulate that they wanted democratic reforms ?
-> Is it possible to articulate your opinion in Iran when you are an opponent of the government ?
-> Why did the people of Iran vote for somebody who is said to be an extremist ?
-> Do the people of Iran wish to have an extremistic president ?
-> Do the people of Iran regard the elected president of Iran to be an extremist ?
-> Did the current religious leader of Iran (Ayatollah Chamenei) manipulate the elections so that not the favoured candidate (of western governments) Rafdjanjani was elected but his competitor, the former mayor of the capital Teheran ?
-> Do the sources of income of Iran (mainly its oil production) serve the Iranian people ?
-> Would an expropriation serve the Iranian people in regard to education and prosperity ?
-> Does the European Commission criticize the Iranian president elections justifiably ?
-> Is the criticism, pointed out by the spokeswoman, meant truthfully ?
-> Is the criticism of the spokeswoman done with the wish in mind to truthfully support the Iranian people ?
-> Would a democratic reform help the Iranian people increase their private wealth ?
-> Should the western countries interfere into Iraninan domestic politics ?
-> Should the western governments carry democratic reforms to Iran by violence ?
-> Should the Iran have a democratic government like in Western Europe ?
-> Do the economic powers in Iran bring the same amount of wealth to the country as they do in Western European countries ?
* How much money do companies in Europe transfer to the respective tax authorities in Western European countries ?
* How much money do companies in Iran transfer to their tax authorities ?
-> Would an expropriation of companies in Iran help the people of Iran in economic regards ?
Theses:
1: The people of Iran deserve the president whom they elected.
2: Democracy should not be carried to another country by force because this contradicts basic democratic values.
3: If democratic reforms are not carried to extremisticly reigned countries many of that countries population have to suffer.
4: The tax income of Iran relative to the income of the comanies in Iran is lower than the tax quota in western countries. If so, this might be regarded as an exploition of the resouces of Iran.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Casted my ballot today
I casted my ballot for the State Elections in North-Rhine Westfalia today. Maybe you read my election information during the week of April 10th to April 14th.
Went right to the Main Election office close to the town hall and casted my ballot there. Didn't want to wait for the election day since I don't know if I'll be in town on that Sunday.
You are actually allowed to vote when your name appears in the electoral register. If you move to another town you have to notify the registration office of the respective town. Thereby you're automatically added to the electoral register, if you're owner of the German citizenship.
Most eligible voters will certainly cast their respective ballot on the election day on Sunday, 22nd May, 2005.
Went right to the Main Election office close to the town hall and casted my ballot there. Didn't want to wait for the election day since I don't know if I'll be in town on that Sunday.
You are actually allowed to vote when your name appears in the electoral register. If you move to another town you have to notify the registration office of the respective town. Thereby you're automatically added to the electoral register, if you're owner of the German citizenship.
Most eligible voters will certainly cast their respective ballot on the election day on Sunday, 22nd May, 2005.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Münster Shopping Arcade opened
Today the new Shopping Mall in the heart of Münster - called Münster Arcades - opened its doors. Maybe you remember the short blog notices of March, 9th and March, 20th.If you should know Potsdamer Platz Arcades in the German capital Berlin, it will remind you of it as its look is somehow similar.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Art of Christo and Jean Claude
Well, this is a little art shop in Münster, the comfy German town I live in. As you can see, we have the world in our shop windows.Not too bad.
I enjoy the look of that Christo art. Wish I could have seen the project in Central Park on my own. Well, it's a real luxury just going to New York for an art project. But... allright... people do things for lesser reasons.
Here are the respective links:
Christo and Jeanne Claude
Wolfgang Volz
Friday, April 15, 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Election Campaign - FDP
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) is one of the two smaller parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW), where I live. (The other small party is The Greens (Grüne)).The FDP is in the opposition role in North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) at the moment, together with the other big German party, the CDU.
Party leader of the FDP in the state of North-Rhine Westfalia is Mr. Andreas Pinkwart, a not very known politician, even to State residents.
Leader of the party in the State parliament is Mr. Ingo Wolf. He shares the same fate, i.e. not to be very known to State citizens outside of his party.
The upcoming State election for the North-Rhine Westfalian parliament will take place on Sunday, 22nd May, 2005.
In the 2000 elections, the FDP gained 721,558 votes. That's 9.8 % of all votes.
The writing on the election poster says:
Support (the education of) our children,
don't spend money on hard coal subvention.
Well, I should come to talk about the hard coal situation later.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Election campaign - CDU
On Sunday, 22nd May, 2005, there will be the State election for the North-Rhine Westfalian parliament.
The Christian Democratic Party (CDU) is one of the two big parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) and currently in the opposition role.
Leader of the party in the State parliament and Party Leader in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia is Mr. Jürgen Rüttgers. He is not really popular so far but has a background from his time in the Federal Government when Chancellor Kohl and the CDU formed the Federal Government (until 1998).
In the 2000 elections, the CDU in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia gained 2,712,176 votes. That's 37,0 % of all votes.
The writing on the election poster says:
5 Million cancellations of (school) lessons.
"Enough is enough !"
Well, I wouldn't bet a dime that they'll do better.
The Christian Democratic Party (CDU) is one of the two big parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) and currently in the opposition role.Leader of the party in the State parliament and Party Leader in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia is Mr. Jürgen Rüttgers. He is not really popular so far but has a background from his time in the Federal Government when Chancellor Kohl and the CDU formed the Federal Government (until 1998).
In the 2000 elections, the CDU in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia gained 2,712,176 votes. That's 37,0 % of all votes.
The writing on the election poster says:
5 Million cancellations of (school) lessons.
"Enough is enough !"
Well, I wouldn't bet a dime that they'll do better.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Election Campaign - SPD
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is one of the two big parties in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia, where I live. (The other one is called CDU).The SPD is on power in the State of North-Rhine Westfalia since 39 years. The Ministerpräsident (Premier of a State) is head of the different secretaries and member of the party on power.
Currently this position is filled by Peer Steinbrück (left on photo).
The upcoming State election for the North-Rhine Westfalian parliament will take place on Sunday, 22nd May, 2005. The election date was announced one year before by the State government.
In 2000, the SPD gained 3,143,179 votes. That's 42.8 % of all votes.
The writing on the election poster says:
I don't promise workplaces,
but I fight for them every day.
Well, I'm sure every unemployed will be happy to hear this.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
State elections
Currently there are four parties in the State Parliament of North-Rhine Westfalia. Two of these parties, the SPD (102 seats) and the Grüne (17 seats) form a coalition and therefore build the State government. Together they have a majority of 119 seats (out of 231 seats).
The two opposition parties are the CDU (88 seats) and the FDP (24 seats).
The 16 Federal States in Germany all have their respective election laws. It is the right of the particular State government to choose the date of the State election within a margin. The election turnus varies from 4 to 5 years depending on the State.
A 5%-hurdle is applied within all of the 16 State Elections and also with elections for the Federal Parliament.
In the following days I'd like to give you a little survey over each of the four parties represented in the State Parliament of North-Rhine Westfalia.
The two opposition parties are the CDU (88 seats) and the FDP (24 seats).
The 16 Federal States in Germany all have their respective election laws. It is the right of the particular State government to choose the date of the State election within a margin. The election turnus varies from 4 to 5 years depending on the State.
A 5%-hurdle is applied within all of the 16 State Elections and also with elections for the Federal Parliament.
In the following days I'd like to give you a little survey over each of the four parties represented in the State Parliament of North-Rhine Westfalia.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Cirque du Soleil with the Pope
On November 10th, 2004, members of the Canadian Cirque du Soleil took part in a so called General Audience with Pope John Paul II.
The clowns and artists of the Cirque du Soleil encorporate and stand for a kind of purity which is very similar to something usually described as real love. Would you agree ?
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