Definitionen

I humbly ask forgiveness from my English only audience. This post is about German legal humour & hence certifiably intranslatable.

"Das Huhn ist aus ethologischer Sicht ein sozial und territorial lebender Scharr- und Flattervogel mit klar strukturierter Rangordnung, dessen wichtigstes Fortbewegungsmittel die Beine sind. (Deutschland)

Eier sind die von einer unverletzten Kalkschale umgebenen, unbebrüteten Keimzellen des Haushuhnes oder anderer Vogelarten. (Lebensmittelverordnung, Schweiz)

Ein Lutscher zeichnet sich dadurch aus, dass der zu verzehrende bzw. zu lutschende oder schleckende Karamellteil auf einem Stiel aufgebracht ist. Ohne einen solchen Stiel würde es sich nicht mehr um einen Lutscher, sondern vielmehr um ein gewöhnliches Bonbon handeln. (Deutsches Gerichtsurteil)

Der Wertsack ist ein Beutel, der auf Grund seiner besonderen Verwendung im Postbeförderungsdienst nicht Wertbeutel, sondern Wertsack genannt wird, weil sein Inhalt aus mehreren Wertbeuteln besteht, die in den Wertsack nicht verbeutelt, sondern versackt werden. (Deutschland)"

Herrlich! Mehr hier. Da gibt es doch tatsächlich auch eine Kurze Einführung in den Juristenhumor, mit Fussnoten und allem drum und dran. Allerdings bin ich bis dato nicht über Seite 14 (von 214) hinausgelangt - Humor ist ja etwas schönes; aber Juristenhumor, und dann erst noch deutscher Provenienz, ist, sagen wir es einmal höflich, doch sehr anspruchsvoll. Aber die zitierten Stellen sind schön. Um beim Einführungsbeispiel zu bleiben:

"Das BGer unterscheidet dabei mit dem LG zwischen 'Konversationsgegacker' und 'Legegegacker'. Es sei, so führt das BGer hierzu aus, gerichtsbekannt, dass nach der Ueberzeugung zahlreicher ländlicher und kleinstädtischer mit Hühnern vertrauter Personen die Hühner nach dem Legen eines Eies in einer besonders charakteristischen Weise gackerten ('Legegegacker'). Ein solches Gegacker komme vor allem im betonten Hervorheben eines der ersten Gackertöne zum Ausdruck." (Stader, 1993, S. 103)

Nach dergestalter Klärung kommt das Landgericht (sic!) in der Sachverhaltsbeurteilung alsbald zum Schluss, dass es sich bei der bestrittenen Werbebotschaft trotz Tierstimmenimitators in der Tat um Legegegacker handle. Was allerdings die Rechtsfolge dieser Konklusion ist, verschweigt uns der Autor gnädig.

Auschwitz aus der Luft

There was a very interesting & disconcerting Channel 4 documentary on Swiss TV tonight about how the allies had very detailed information on the holocaust happening in Auschwitz in summer 1944 already. Also, they had the means to stop it, yet they didn't. Why? Nobody knows.

The programme will be aired again on the 13th at 1710h on SF2. See it!

Earned Sovereignty

Here's an interesting debate including one of my pet subjects, Russia. Well, maybe my perception of it being interesting is biased by the fact that I have been one of the main contributors. OK, the only contributor, apart from the blog's owner ... but do feel free to chime in!

Smiling nations

So, where does your smile come from?

Warsaw impressions

From my earlier posts, you can tell that I am back home for a while already - the trip back from Warsaw was rather uneventful, as it should be. I finally got round to sorting out the pictures of the trip, which you can see here.

I had a great time with my Polish friends, particularly W & A - thank you very much, guys! But I am not entirely sure what to make of the place as such. One thing is for sure: Warsaw has a distinctly separate identity from other Eastern European cities I've seen so far, i.e. Budapest, Prague and Vienna. It's probably not a coïncidence that these places have once been imperial cities of the Austria-Hungarian empire, which gives them a lot of common heritage, despite of their respective differences. Not so Warsaw: This is clearly a separate country with a strong slavonic influence, not least in the language, which seems to be largely untainted with English. Also, relatively few people seem to speak foreign languages - it was rather odd to occasionally have to resort to Russian as the lingua franca.

Another very sad difference is that Warsaw has been virtually obliterated during WWII. This city has seen far more than its fair share of attrocities, violence and wars in the not too distant past, and this still reverberates eerily in its atmosphere. If you see the pictures of Warsaw's beautiful old city centre, you wouldn't think that it has only been rebuilt from scratch some 50 years ago. And yet, the veneer feels precariously thin.

But the future looks bright, I think: Despite of their often tragic history, the Poles appear to be a proud, confident & incredibly resilient people. Probably for the first time in their history, they will have the opportunity to bring that to bear in the peaceful environment of the European Union, upon which they could have a very favourable influence if they set their sights to it. Stolat to that!

In other news, I was unable to resist the temptation to invest in a fine piece of graphic art by Andrzej Kasprzak from this place, which has a great selection of contemporary (apparently, they'd better be alive, otherwise you'd have trouble exporting them!) Polish artists.

Discovery

If you're looking for some fine mediterranean cuisine in a smart & relaxed atmosphere in central Zürich, then look no further - the Hirschberg at Seilergraben 9 (they haven't got a website, apparently) is the right place! They may have just four starters and four main courses to choose from, which leaves you with a selection of 16 combinations in total, but given the quality, that's entirely satisfactory. Dinner for two with drinks will set you back some CHF 140. So, the invitation to yesterday's CCRS Pavilion Lecture did not only pay off intellectually, but also in food terms because it led to the discovery of this place by walking by on the way to the lecture location.

Shake the power!

I say! This kind of functionality probably was not on the minds of the prudent people over at Apple who were merely concerned with the detrimental effects that an over-exposure to gravitational forces might have on their good wares when dropped. But you can certainly trust the emo Apple crowd to come up with an MCUI (Motion Controlled User Interface) for iTunes! What's next - surfing the web in wave motions, the PB going wheeee when thrown around? At any rate, I want a new PB!

c = 5 x d + 2

Here's a fascinating (German) article about Swiss physicist Guerino Mazzola's mathematical theory of music, an important part of which is Fux' rule which I've quoted in the title. In essence, it shows the relationship between consonant and dissonant intervalls in western music. Based on that, Mazzola develops a comprehensive and explanatory model of music in his book The Topos of Music.

What thrills me most about the idea is that the differences between western music and indian music for instance are just a matter of parameterisation of the modell. Consequently, it should be possible to have Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "translated" into raga - and the other way round! Imagine whole new universes of musical masterpieces becoming available to the uninitiated ear! If this is really true, I hope it will happen very soon. Possibly, Mazzola's role in music might be similarly revelatory like that of Luther in religion, who brought the text of the bible to the common man because it was only available in Latin before he translated it.

Easter bunnies

Easter is approaching fast - but, wow, I've never seen such a great selection of chocolate rabbits! Check it out!

Leadership

In a special edition Issues 2005, Newsweek asks whether our generation is measuring up to the leadership examples set by the likes of Churchill, JFK and FDR.

Naturally, the answers given are mixed. Most surprising to me is the one given by Churchill biographer Martin Gilbert, namely that time (and the consequent release of archives) will tell that B&B did indeed have what it takes. I simply cannot follow the comparisons he draws!

Far more accessible is Zbigniew Brzezinski (being in Poland helps to spell that correctly!) closing remarks:"Roosevelt, Churchill and Truman at one point were each politically very divisive and personally even despised figures. Yet each transcended himself when confronted by an almost apocalyptic encounter with destiny. So let us hope." I am having trouble sharing that hope, I am afraid, and that's for a simple, almost trivial reason: The current president has become divisive & despised after his not that apocalyptic encounter with destiny ...

Oh, and don't overlook the article on the leadership exercised by Alpha-Bloggers. Now, would you link to my blog already - PLEASE! ;-)