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Another first tonight: I've tasted the 15 year old Glendronach (79 Jackson points) which I've been presented with by a good friend of mine on my birthday (thanks, Thomas!). And what a pleasant dram it is! While it will not quite dethrone Glenfarclas from my top distillery preference due to its somewhat smoky and peaty edge, it's certainly not far from it. I understand perfectly well however that that's exactly what you may be looking for in a whisky, but it is not exactly my cup of tea entirely, so to speak.
I am still going for the harmoniously rounded complexity of the 25 year old Glenfarclas (89 points) which to my experience has only been beaten by bottling 1.100 of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, containing an indescribably mellow, yet sparkling 36 years old Glenfarclas, distilled in 1966 and bottled in 2002. A miracle turned liquid! Unfortunately there are only four fingers left in the bottle...
20/05/2004
Swimming in open air!
Yes, the time of the year is back where you can go swimming open air again! I went to the Bachgraben for the first time this year, taking out a season ticket. And 'lo and behold, I was not the only one having that bold idea - the place was packed. What's more, despite of the warm weather the water is still a tad bit too cool to do some serious swimming, so I'll have to go to a heated open air pool to do my program. Call me wimpy, but I only did 10 laps.
During the drying, I resumed reading somebody else's blog where I left off in the fall last year. The period I caught up with was what appears to have been a relatively poor summer in London (even for London!), namely July 1660. Admittedly, Samuel Pepys his blog was more of a pen & parchment affair rather than being written on a silicon based powerbook, but - well - the times, they are a'changing. Cheerioh!
During the drying, I resumed reading somebody else's blog where I left off in the fall last year. The period I caught up with was what appears to have been a relatively poor summer in London (even for London!), namely July 1660. Admittedly, Samuel Pepys his blog was more of a pen & parchment affair rather than being written on a silicon based powerbook, but - well - the times, they are a'changing. Cheerioh!
19/05/2004
Meta Review
More reviews of reviews and of authors talking about themselves and others. This time in English again, since you can see in my last post what happens when I write German. And it's just too tedious to write ae instead of ä all the time!
Remember what I said about Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code? No? Shame, my words are supposed to be gospel! You can read it again here, though. Well, for once I am glad to say that I am not the only one who is mildly dissatisfied. To witness, check no less illustrous source than The Economist.
Also, it would appear that it is too long since I have last read some Mario Vargas Llosa - here is a brillant interview from the Weltwoche - watch out, it's in German. Apparently, he's not quite the agnostic I am: "Es wäre doch absurd, wenn so komplexe, reichhaltige, widersprüchliche Phänomene wie das Leben, die Geschichte oder die Evolution keinerlei Sinn hätten und nichts als Werke des Zufalls wären. Sofern es eine Form der Transzendenz gibt, ist sie jedoch sicher ganz anders, als es uns die grossen Religionen schildern. Denn diese Schilderungen sind schlechte Literatur." That's a bit cheeky, isnt't it?
Remember what I said about Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code? No? Shame, my words are supposed to be gospel! You can read it again here, though. Well, for once I am glad to say that I am not the only one who is mildly dissatisfied. To witness, check no less illustrous source than The Economist.
Also, it would appear that it is too long since I have last read some Mario Vargas Llosa - here is a brillant interview from the Weltwoche - watch out, it's in German. Apparently, he's not quite the agnostic I am: "Es wäre doch absurd, wenn so komplexe, reichhaltige, widersprüchliche Phänomene wie das Leben, die Geschichte oder die Evolution keinerlei Sinn hätten und nichts als Werke des Zufalls wären. Sofern es eine Form der Transzendenz gibt, ist sie jedoch sicher ganz anders, als es uns die grossen Religionen schildern. Denn diese Schilderungen sind schlechte Literatur." That's a bit cheeky, isnt't it?
17/05/2004
Rekapitulation
Heute bin ich endlich dazu gekommen, den Berg von Zeitungen durchzusehen, der sich in meiner Abwesenheit erhoben hat. Es wäre zwar wesentlich einfacher gewesen, ihn direkt in's Altpapier zu geben, aber dann hätte ich eine Zeitlücke gehabt bezüglich dessen, was in der Welt ausserhalb der USA passiert ist. Davon hört man nämlich dort nichts, sofern es nicht die USA betrifft.
Bei dieser Gelegenheit bin ich auch auf einige interessante Dinge gestossen, die es verdienen, hier wiedergegeben zu werden. Es handelt sich dabei praktisch ausschliesslich um Artikel aus meinem Leib- und Magenblatt (der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung für die, die mich noch nicht lange kennen).
Erstens weist Heribert Seifert auf die Renaissance im Internet der Pressetradition von Foren für Meinungsbildung und gescheite Auseinandersetzung hin. Für besonders erwähnenswert halte ich persönlich den Neuen Phosphoros sowie den französischen largeur.com. Ah, und dann wäre da noch Cosmopolis.ch! Ich werde die alle mal weiter verfolgen.
Ebenfalls spannend ist ein Artikel von Pio Pellizzari von der Schweiz. Landesphonotek in der Ausgabe vom 7.5. über die Konservierung alter Schallplatten via Photographie! Tatsächlich: Die Rillen werden photographiert und ein Algorithmus errechnet aus den Bildern völlig berührungsfrei den akustischen Inhalt dieser Platten. Faszinierend!
Und zum Schluss: Gut gibt es Meinungsvielfalt. Der Streitgegenstand ist Pablo Almodovars neuer Film La Mala Educacion. In der NZZ am Sonntag steht ein grossartiger Text, aus dem ich einfach zitieren muss:
"So sind wir denn, mit den ersten imaginierten Toten, mitten in einem Film, der erst ein mögliches Drehbuch ist. Das erst geschrieben werden muss. Und dessen Ende erst der Anfang des Films von einem Film im Film ist. Einem Film auch von den Anfängein eines brillanten Filmemachers, der zwanzig Jahre später aus der Höhe seiner Kunst und seines Erfolgs zurückblicken wird auf die Menschen - die Opfer? -, die er hinter sich gelassen hat. Ein Regisseur, der natürlich Almodovar heissen könnte. Doch die Frage nach dem autobiographischen Gehalt scheint nicht wirklich von Belang, denn, sagt Almodovar, in der Kunst ist alles Autobiographie, und der Rest ist Plagiat. Einzig die ungewohnte Distanz, ja geradezu emotionale Kühle, mit der der leidenschaftlichste der zeitgenössischen Regisseure hier inszeniert, lässt auf besondere Nähe schliessen."
Soweit Pia Horlacher. Kurz und bündig dagegen Christoph Egger in der NZZ vom 12. Mai: "Zähflüssig, kitschig, banal, ist 'Die schlechte Erziehung' nach so bedeutenden Filmen wie 'Todo sobre mi madre' und 'Habla con ella' eine herbe Enttäuschung." Nun, da wird uns wohl nichts anderes übrig bleiben als eine eigene Meinung zu bilden ...
So, jetzt ist es aber Zeit für 24. Over and out.
Bei dieser Gelegenheit bin ich auch auf einige interessante Dinge gestossen, die es verdienen, hier wiedergegeben zu werden. Es handelt sich dabei praktisch ausschliesslich um Artikel aus meinem Leib- und Magenblatt (der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung für die, die mich noch nicht lange kennen).
Erstens weist Heribert Seifert auf die Renaissance im Internet der Pressetradition von Foren für Meinungsbildung und gescheite Auseinandersetzung hin. Für besonders erwähnenswert halte ich persönlich den Neuen Phosphoros sowie den französischen largeur.com. Ah, und dann wäre da noch Cosmopolis.ch! Ich werde die alle mal weiter verfolgen.
Ebenfalls spannend ist ein Artikel von Pio Pellizzari von der Schweiz. Landesphonotek in der Ausgabe vom 7.5. über die Konservierung alter Schallplatten via Photographie! Tatsächlich: Die Rillen werden photographiert und ein Algorithmus errechnet aus den Bildern völlig berührungsfrei den akustischen Inhalt dieser Platten. Faszinierend!
Und zum Schluss: Gut gibt es Meinungsvielfalt. Der Streitgegenstand ist Pablo Almodovars neuer Film La Mala Educacion. In der NZZ am Sonntag steht ein grossartiger Text, aus dem ich einfach zitieren muss:
"So sind wir denn, mit den ersten imaginierten Toten, mitten in einem Film, der erst ein mögliches Drehbuch ist. Das erst geschrieben werden muss. Und dessen Ende erst der Anfang des Films von einem Film im Film ist. Einem Film auch von den Anfängein eines brillanten Filmemachers, der zwanzig Jahre später aus der Höhe seiner Kunst und seines Erfolgs zurückblicken wird auf die Menschen - die Opfer? -, die er hinter sich gelassen hat. Ein Regisseur, der natürlich Almodovar heissen könnte. Doch die Frage nach dem autobiographischen Gehalt scheint nicht wirklich von Belang, denn, sagt Almodovar, in der Kunst ist alles Autobiographie, und der Rest ist Plagiat. Einzig die ungewohnte Distanz, ja geradezu emotionale Kühle, mit der der leidenschaftlichste der zeitgenössischen Regisseure hier inszeniert, lässt auf besondere Nähe schliessen."
Soweit Pia Horlacher. Kurz und bündig dagegen Christoph Egger in der NZZ vom 12. Mai: "Zähflüssig, kitschig, banal, ist 'Die schlechte Erziehung' nach so bedeutenden Filmen wie 'Todo sobre mi madre' und 'Habla con ella' eine herbe Enttäuschung." Nun, da wird uns wohl nichts anderes übrig bleiben als eine eigene Meinung zu bilden ...
So, jetzt ist es aber Zeit für 24. Over and out.
16/05/2004
The second shoe drops
... or the third, as the case may be, but that would be spoiling the picture, wouldn't it?
Anyway, I just received news that I have been elected. What to? I have been elected to be a member of the communal "Wahlbuero", which is the committee tallying votes on elections and referenda. And there's quite a few of those in Switzerland, every quarter or so. So, it's actually quite a responsible job, although naturally underrated. We'll see. Surprisingly enough, I have made 141 votes. That's not bad on a population of some 1500 souls with maybe 900 eligible to vote, is it.
Talking of politics: I really don't like the outcome of today's federal referenda. Clearly, this country is going to the dogs. We were not even able to lower taxes in a very moderate way, even though Switzerland holds the less than favourable OECD record on growth of the rate of Government spending compared to GDP. And that's disastrous - envy and vested interests ("Kantoenligeist" for you Swiss out there) roam all over the place. And the changes of the second pillar haven't gone through either. The fact that the VAT raise also received the boot was only consequential, although it wouldn't have surprised me if we had voted to raise it anyway, just for good measure. How did Max Weber put it so succinctly - "Politik ist das langsame Bohren dicker Bretter" (politics is like drilling bulky boards very slowly)? In the case of Switzerland, those boards seem to be particularly thick ...
But enough of those disgruntled mutterings already. Happy Birthday, Lili!
Anyway, I just received news that I have been elected. What to? I have been elected to be a member of the communal "Wahlbuero", which is the committee tallying votes on elections and referenda. And there's quite a few of those in Switzerland, every quarter or so. So, it's actually quite a responsible job, although naturally underrated. We'll see. Surprisingly enough, I have made 141 votes. That's not bad on a population of some 1500 souls with maybe 900 eligible to vote, is it.
Talking of politics: I really don't like the outcome of today's federal referenda. Clearly, this country is going to the dogs. We were not even able to lower taxes in a very moderate way, even though Switzerland holds the less than favourable OECD record on growth of the rate of Government spending compared to GDP. And that's disastrous - envy and vested interests ("Kantoenligeist" for you Swiss out there) roam all over the place. And the changes of the second pillar haven't gone through either. The fact that the VAT raise also received the boot was only consequential, although it wouldn't have surprised me if we had voted to raise it anyway, just for good measure. How did Max Weber put it so succinctly - "Politik ist das langsame Bohren dicker Bretter" (politics is like drilling bulky boards very slowly)? In the case of Switzerland, those boards seem to be particularly thick ...
But enough of those disgruntled mutterings already. Happy Birthday, Lili!
The weirdest dream ...
... and other jetlag induced experiences.
Yesterday I was doing quite well jetlag-wise. Or so I thought.
Until I woke up this morning, all bleary-eyed and knackered. And I had the weirdest dream. Granted, I usually do not remember my dreams, so I don't have much to compare it to in terms of weirdness, but it was all the same. It started when I realised that I had a strange deformity in my right foot, and - forgive me if I'll spare you the gory medical details - all of a sudden, out popped an old, battered ... golf ball! And that's it. How weird is that!? Care to analyse, anyone?
The second. substantially less metaphysical revelation occured later on in the swimming pool. I discovered why I could never to more than a lap of freestyle without being totally exhausted afterwards. It's quite trivial, really: I was always totally tense and used far too much strength, especially in the legwork, whereas it is sufficient to only paddle a bit. Subsequently, I was able to do double the laps on half the strain. I am quite pleased with myself, I must admit.
It seems I should fly more often.
Yesterday I was doing quite well jetlag-wise. Or so I thought.
Until I woke up this morning, all bleary-eyed and knackered. And I had the weirdest dream. Granted, I usually do not remember my dreams, so I don't have much to compare it to in terms of weirdness, but it was all the same. It started when I realised that I had a strange deformity in my right foot, and - forgive me if I'll spare you the gory medical details - all of a sudden, out popped an old, battered ... golf ball! And that's it. How weird is that!? Care to analyse, anyone?
The second. substantially less metaphysical revelation occured later on in the swimming pool. I discovered why I could never to more than a lap of freestyle without being totally exhausted afterwards. It's quite trivial, really: I was always totally tense and used far too much strength, especially in the legwork, whereas it is sufficient to only paddle a bit. Subsequently, I was able to do double the laps on half the strain. I am quite pleased with myself, I must admit.
It seems I should fly more often.
15/05/2004
Good morning, Schoenenbuch!
Surely I cannot be turning into a morning person? The landscape is still in the twilight of early morning, the blackbirds are singing with a vengeance and I am wide awake! Most unusual. Must be the effect of the jetlag.
Just thought I'd let you know ....
Just thought I'd let you know ....
14/05/2004
Home, sweet home
You're right - I am back in cool Switzerland (that's not comparing to Britannia - it's meant meteorologically!) and fully in the grips of the jetlag. Everything went relatively smoothly with the trip, with the exception that I had to make do with an aisle seat, which I HATE! But the plane was really quite full.
Did I mention that I gave Bill Gates some money? In Chicago I bought the upgrade to Office 2004. Unfortunately I always want to be up to date with software, so that's where Bill's safe comes into play. After all, the poor guy will have to deliver a load to Brussels. Too bad! I also got a Belkin radio transmitter so that I can use the iPod in the car without much trouble. Seems to work fine from what I see.
But now, do not expect more verbiage from me - I am going to turn in early because tomorrow, I volunteered to proctor a CFA practice exam in Zurich, starting at 0830h!! Am I mad or what!
Did I mention that I gave Bill Gates some money? In Chicago I bought the upgrade to Office 2004. Unfortunately I always want to be up to date with software, so that's where Bill's safe comes into play. After all, the poor guy will have to deliver a load to Brussels. Too bad! I also got a Belkin radio transmitter so that I can use the iPod in the car without much trouble. Seems to work fine from what I see.
But now, do not expect more verbiage from me - I am going to turn in early because tomorrow, I volunteered to proctor a CFA practice exam in Zurich, starting at 0830h!! Am I mad or what!
13/05/2004
New stuff!
I say! The new blogger is really great - new templates and a built in commenting feature. Now I am perfectly happy with this.
My day in Chicago went very well. In the morning, I almost got a sunburn on a river tour, and in the afternoon, I very nearly drowned during a thunderstorm. So that's the climatic diversity you get exposed to when in the Windy City!
But it's fun! Did you ever have this kind of view when having a cocktail? This was on the 96th floor of the Hancock Observatory.
And shouldn't we all be members of this particular society?
It appears however that they limit their activity to cats and dogs - literally! When you peer through their windows, you see a collection of cages for those - probably stray - species which subsequently are to be placed with new keepers. Very nice.
Finally, a little view of La Salle Street, Chicago's Wall Street after closing ...
My day in Chicago went very well. In the morning, I almost got a sunburn on a river tour, and in the afternoon, I very nearly drowned during a thunderstorm. So that's the climatic diversity you get exposed to when in the Windy City!
But it's fun! Did you ever have this kind of view when having a cocktail? This was on the 96th floor of the Hancock Observatory.
And shouldn't we all be members of this particular society?
It appears however that they limit their activity to cats and dogs - literally! When you peer through their windows, you see a collection of cages for those - probably stray - species which subsequently are to be placed with new keepers. Very nice.
Finally, a little view of La Salle Street, Chicago's Wall Street after closing ...
11/05/2004
Good bye, Denver - Hello Chicago!
I have left the high plains of Denver now, and safely entered the windy city of Chicago.
If you go to Denver, be careful about anything containing air that you carry with you. Here's the lense liquid bottles status in Chicago, and by inversion, you may conclude what happened in Denver with the lower pressure:
If you go to Denver, be careful about anything containing air that you carry with you. Here's the lense liquid bottles status in Chicago, and by inversion, you may conclude what happened in Denver with the lower pressure:
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