Tag Archives: germany

8828 – MAYDAY!

BHK and I might do something special for May Day.

What shall we do? Maybe a walk on the beach and just a nice personal time to celebrate the spring is in order. A little maypole dancing might be nice, too. 😉


Breakthrough! Newton and Pye can share!

newt and pye share!


I feel a little like a happy zombie.

look


via bhk – http://www.chimneycleaners.com/

So far I think this has to be the BEST site that has come up in your yahoo ads on the cam page. It has entertaining yet badly acted video and LOOK a SWEEP that likes Harley Davidson AND VA TECH WOW! HAHAHHA


Reprinted from last year

We’re directly opposite of Halloween at this point. The season started with Candlemas / Groundhog’s Day has come to an end.

May 1 marks the final victory of Spring over Winter, but before departing, the witches and their cohorts have one last fling. The night from April 30 to May 1 is called “Walpurgisnacht”, the night of Walpurgis or Walpurga. The festival is marked by numerous rituals to ward off evil. Legend has it that on Walpurgisnacht the witches would gather on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. Because of the Walpurgisnacht scene in Goethe’s Faust, in which Mephistopheles takes Faust to the Brocken and has him revel with the witches, the witches gathering became widely known.

Under Christian influence Walpurgisnacht became a fest to drive out evil spirits. Walpurgis derives its name from Walpurga or Walburga. Walburga, Abbess of Heidenheim near Eichstätt, a Catholic Saint, was known as the protectoress against witchcraft and sorcery. On the Eve of May 1, bells may toll in some areas and prayers may be said; there may be blessings with holy-water and blessed sprigs can be found in homes and barns. The most widespread remedy against evil spirits during Walpurgisnacht is noise. As soon as the sun sets, boys of all ages may make noise. Their equipment ranges from boards to beat onto the ground to pistols for firing shots.

In Bavaria the night from April 30 to May 1 is called a Freinacht or Drudennacht. For youth it is an opportunity to play tricks. They may stroll in groups through the streets and wind toilet-paper around cars, smear door-handles with tooth-paste, unhinge garden doors and carry them a few meters away, and they may displace shoe scrapers. It is said that at one time boys took a sparred-frame cart to pieces and reassembled it on the roof of the house of the owner.


May 1st marks the victory of Spring over Winter, but before departing the Hexen have one last fling and make an attempt to assert their power on Walpurgisnacht. This Hexennacht is the best known in the seasonal cycle. The roots for this fest extend back to a pre-Christian Frühjahrsfest, which was perhaps celebrated in an even more rowdy fashion, as the Valborgs maessafton is still celebrated today in Sweden, Thueringen and elsewhere. Under Christian influence it was probably transformed into a fest to drive out the Hexen. The festival became widely known outside Germany due to Goethe’s use of this theme in Faust.

The festival is marked by numerous rituals to ward off evil. On the eve of May 1st the bells toll in Luxembourg and many prayers are said, there are blessings with holy-water and blessed-palms in the homes and barns. In Schmalkalden in Thueringen the little girls, dressed as Hexen themselves, chase out the Walpermännchen. They wear paper hats and sometimes carry sticks in their hands. Similarly, in the south Harz region, the young boys ride stick-horses and chase the Hexen out of the fields. The most widespread remedy against evil spirits during Walpurgisnacht is noise. The boys begin making noise as soon as the sun sets. In Bohemia boards are beaten onto the ground in front of the houses, accompanied by this chant: “Hex geh raus, ‘s brennt dei Haus.” Whoever hears a pistol shot on that evening is supposed to say, “Schiess mei Hex a mit!” In Lippe the noise is referred to as “Maiklappen.” A lot of noise is especially made in front of the houses of married couples who are childless, because it is believed that it is necessary to “further the blessings.” In the Berner Jura the shepherd boys, on the eve of May 1, stand atop the manure-piles and crack whips in order to drive away wolves. The wolf is the incarnation of evil, and symbolizes the departure of winter. The manure-pile symbolizes fertility of the fields and gardens, and therefore is often the locale where prayers are said. Farmers who don’t have as many cattle help each other out in the summer. They make a pledge-group, which takes this form in Donaueschingen: they go to a nearby chapel and pray, then they climb together onto a manure-pile, hold hands, and say “Mir (=wir) gmaren miteinand,” which means “we are helping each other to bring home hay and grain with our cattle.” [i.e. they are sharing each other’s manure-piles, which is sprayed onto the fields as fertilizer].

So, folks, there is a parable here — when we lapse into slinging mud at each other, we should look at it from a higher perspective — we are really fertilizing each other’s fields!


1 year ago – charmed and dr who, bob ross, 20% , houses and kitties, tummy ache, lennon quote, i like monkeys, may day,

2 years ago – family factoids, mail forwarding booboo, skipped air show, costcocremation urns, Classic Cheesy Comics, Minneapolis Beggars Guild?,Burrito Weapon

3 years ago – rough night on call, may day, Spanish channel family feud answers,budget assist, air and sea, Dan’s students put up a site, Newt-parrot,mum issue, memories, cam pics

4 years ago – There, mayday, top40 drop, ortho, on Workmans comp

5 years ago – free scoop, invaders, stuff meme

6 years ago – buck rogers, geography and climate, nightclub, trundle, lj-cut ponder, misc evil news, organ donor poll, wild partyGeotargetVisitor Map

8332 – MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MONDAY! ARGH!

The Sarah Jane episode of Dr. Who didn’t disappoint, and it was delightful to see both her and K9 again. I do think that if the Doctor had been a little less “devil may care”, a lot fewer innocents would’ve been killed.

In other TV news, I was enjoying Charmed, until they added the blond “cousin oliver”. See also the addition of the kid on Gilmore Girls. They’re just counting down to the end.


Bob Ross Inc. has announced in March 2006 that they have filed a letter of intent to license to Joseph Hatcher’s AGFRAG Entertainment Group to develop exclusively worldwide video/computer games based on Bob Ross’ creative, unique and easy to learn painting techniques and TV show properties.

Right on. Happy Little Trees! “We don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.” I love that guy.


Is it true that 1 human being out of 5 is a Chinese farmer? There are a lot of 20% breakdowns on google.

A few –

  1. one in every five Americans are currently infected with a sexually transmitted viral disease.
  2. One in every five Americans, experiences some type of mental disorder each year
  3. The bacteria that cause meningococcal disease are carried by about one in every five people.
  4. One in every five people in Nairobi is HIV positive
  5. About one in every five people have genital herpes
  6. one in every five people in Jordan have made pledges to UNICEF
  7. One in every five people lack access to safe drinking water.
  8. one in every five people on the planet is a Muslim.
  9. One in every five people in Seoul owns dogs or other pets.
  10. Mild side effects of the Japanese Encephalitis Virus Vaccine occur in about one in every five people who receive it.
  11. one in every five people has a reading problem
  12. One in every five people in the developing world is chronically undernourished
  13. By 2030, one in every five people is likely to be 65 or older
  14. one in every five people who work for the State of California works for the Department of Corrections
  15. one in every five people in the world is surviving on less than $1 a day
  16. One in every five people with sight problems has another disability
  17. One in every five people with HIV is a prison inmate or a former inmate
  18. In Michigan, nearly one in every five people is out of work

To the best of my knowledge, I don’t fall into any of those groups.

I’d say I know folks that fall into group #1, #2, #4 (but not from Nairobi), #5, #6, #8, #9 (in Seoul), #11, #13 (I think GP falls into that group… I’ll be 61), #14, #15, #16, #17


It’s really hard to find a house painted green in my neighborhood. I have yellow, many shades of blue, pink, white, and gray… but no green. Also, I’ve found no stray kitties in my walkabout… Seester Kelliebellie gave me a challenge! I like it, but it may take me longer than I had anticipated.


I had a little tummy-ache this weekend…feeling a bit better now.


Everybody’s got something to hide except me and my monkey.

– John Lennon


I like monkeys – mp3

I was walking through town one day and I noticed that the pet store was selling monkeys for five cents apiece. I thought that was odd since they were normally a couple thousand dollars or something, but I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I bought 200. You know why? I like monkeys.

Continue reading 8332 – MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MONDAY! ARGH!

8215 – memes and links, memes and links, I’m gonna get me some memes and links.

Argh, try as I may, I missed free pancake day. I made ’em for dinner last night, out of spite.

Hey, I rhymed!


The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674 to 1834

A fully searchable online edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London’s central criminal court.

Now complete! Contains 101,102 trials, from April 1674 to October 1834


Things seen out and about yesterday.

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Dinosaurs at the grocery store (across from the crunchberries)

DSC01414.JPG

Body in the back of a truck (sleeping, not dead, I assume)


Moment of Lyric – (video on band’s webpage– found via qdot)


Seeed – “Ding”

7788 – Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung

Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung.

I love that word.

I could say it all day long.

Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung. Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung. Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung.

Translates roughly to “Multi-purpose fighter advertisement.”

Mehrzweckflugzeugausschreibung.

That’s my word of the day. I love the German language.

I also like to say “Yucca Flats” and “Ricardo Montalban”.

“If that’s a confession, my ass is a banjo.”

Edgar Allen Poe story… Hop-Frog… men dressed in orangutan outfits set on fire, the perils of drinking wine, and why you shouldn’t piss off a dwarf, even if you are a king.

Mmm…. Mexican sugar skulls.

I lost a game of world war to the palmtop…Mongolia finished my last landmasses in Asia. Before I knew what I was saying, I muttered “F-ing MON-GO-REE-ANS!”. I need a great wall to keep ’em out.

I’ve seen no sign of Oktoberfest anywhere. I missed it! German-American Club (warning, tacky embedded wav), you’re slacking with the advertising. I want a hot pretzel with mustard, and a beer! I guess I’ll have to enjoy Bavarian music and chicken dancing in the privacy of my own home.

Looks like a rainy day today… I’m all for that… I just hope it doesn’t make me too sleepy!

Valhalla, I am coming! Image of Newt as a Viking Kitten, shamelessly taken from rathergood.com

Is Thomas a Rhymer? A Peeper? A Doubter? A Tank Engine?

Thanks a lot, ya dang Hussites!

Random historical tidbit:

The wagensburg was based in its organization on that of the Hussites. An Ordinance of 1480 speaks of two lines each of 50 wagons, a line either side of 100 each, and two outer lines of 300. Colored signal flags were used, largely of red and white, four of them bearing the symbols of a cannon, crossbow, halberd, or pike as easy recognition signs. An executioner and gallows accompanied the army; robbery brought the loss of a hand, while deceit concerning the enemy might mean being clubbed through the wagon lines.

Berg, the place I’m named for.

Dec 15, 1999

Berg former duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, on the right bank of the Rhine, now in the administrative districts of Düsseldorf and Cologne in Germany. In the 11th century the counts of Berg came into possession of Westphalian lands east of Cologne. From 1161 these were divided between the senior branch of Berg and the junior branch of Altena (later Mark), which acquired the countship of Cleves in 1368. The Berg line nearly became extinct with the assassination in 1225 of Engelbert I the Holy, the third member of the family to hold the archbishopric of Cologne, and the title passed to the House of Limburg. In 1288 Count Adolf V began to develop Düsseldorf (later Berg’s capital) as a port. A member of the House of Jülich, Gerhard VI (died 1360) married the heiress of Berg in 1348; in 1380 his son William was created duke; and in 1423 Duke Adolf also inherited Jülich, thus uniting the two duchies and associated lands. When the male line became extinct in 1511, the territories passed to John III, duke of Cleves. Berg became a leading iron and textile manufacturing centre in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1806 Napoleon made it a grand duchy in his Confederation of the Rhine, with his brother-in-law Joachim Murat as grand duke. Berg, along with Jülich, which had been annexed by the French, became part of Prussia’s Rhine province by award of the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15. And now you know why I might hate the French, aside from the very basic nature of all humans to hate the French.