19 December 2009

sick

I'm not well, so I spend some time celebrating my illness, and hence almost no news.
Today I accidentally watched ski jumping and therefore I give a name (no offense meant) as a 'Wort zum Montag', which is also an almost 'hidden imperative':
Ski jumper Andreas Wank (GER)!
Congratulations!

16 November 2009

Reality TV

Today I discussed the phenomenon of so called "reality TV" with some of my colleagues. I pointed out that there is an evolution in these series. The whole stuff started with "Big Brother" and derivates like "The Models Flat Share", "Taxi Orange", "I'm prominent, get me out of here", and a whole bunch of shows, where one could watch a whole bunch of people solving some problem, such as living together. Then there are the judges-shows, like "Barbara Salesch", and "Alexander Hold", and some head-hunter and lawyer shows, as well as bailiff and sheriff programs. But it is somewhat awkward to call them "reality" shows, since they had only real material for one season at most. And now very popular are shows, where advisors help people, like social workers, "The Super-Nanny", "Out of Debts" ("Raus aus den Schulden"), and so on.

Why do I talk of this? Well, first there was a show proposed on an Austrian private television channel, ATV, with the title "The Sexperts" ("Die Sexperten"). A first show was produced, but never published. The idea is, that a couple with problems in bed are filmed with infrared, and then advised by sexual therapists how to improve their sex-life.

Upon telling this a colleague said to me: "We call all of these shows social-porn (Sozialporno), since they are like porn: You watch it, while saying to most things 'I wouldn't do IT'. "
(Well, this statement may be not true for everyone, the cast is, e.g., out of the game. 'sides, the word itself is partly a pleonasm, since isn't every sex somewhat social, except masturbation?)

10 November 2009

Tuesday already ...

and yesterday I was informed that I have to write the final report on my project till the 22nd of November to apply for the continuation of the project ... why do I have to think about the PhD-comics right now?

Anyway, yestereve I found two words, or better said one phrase and one word, of Monday, although in German: arschknapp (colloquial for hard-pressed, which goes actually pretty good as a pleonastic translation), and the slogan of the Egger beer: Gebraut aus Leidenschaft (brewed out of passion, really too much information!)

02 November 2009

Long time no see!

Well, in October I've been at the SPIEL09 in Essen, Germany, and, alas, the semester has started, so many young unknown students join classes to learn something. Teach them I can. Anyway, the VIENNALE, the international Vienna film festival, is also occupying my time. Although I watch less movies than I've bought games, which, of course, have to be tested (20 vs. 35), my spare time is pretty scarce right now. Also the students in Austria protest against the commercialization of education, which I support (the students pint of view, of course).
But my bank account is plundered, so I will have more time in the near future, since I've no money left to spend. (I had much luck on my trip back to Vienna from Düsseldorf airport: I didn't have to pay for the considerable overweight (15kg á 7€ per kg), but still, the games themselves, and the trip, and the movie tickets, and my bracers, they make quite a sum in total!)

So for this weeks news, I just give two pics of advertisement I found:

Cucumbers "mini" from Viennese gardeners:

Take Jesus!

11 October 2009

007

just said "Ich habe mich in dir getäuscht." (While everyone knows how to pretend a male org... .) Therefore I give him one |. One gets a | when saying something which can be interpreted in an ambiguous way. The point I am dispensing ||| is to make people aware that language is a tool to confuse. But only when unintentionally! So 007s second sentence "I thought X-mas comes only once a year." gets no |, since it was intentional. (Please correct my English grammar, I suppose it is awfully wrong, and I would be interested in the correct sequence of tenses.)

08 October 2009

07 October 2009

Shot in the back ...

was a 14 yo teenager by a cop. The boy broke into a shop one night in August. The expertise now says that the teens (another 17 yo guy was with him) weren't attacking, like the policeman and the policewoman said. The investigation goes under the title "involuntary manslaughter under dangerous conditions". So these two teens are considered very dangerous, armed with a rake and a screwdriver, as they were. Or maybe dangerous because it was dark, and the police didn't turn on the lights. Many facts about this case make many people wonder, I wondered mainly about the severe reactions of so many people. Very many said: "He got what he deserved.", even the most spread Austrian newspaper told so. I don't think that any mere thief deserves the death penalty.

Only one circumstance made me rather angry, and that was that the two police officers were allowed to arrange their testimony. I think that was a very bad idea and it doesn't speak for the "very professional training" the police gets "to deal with such situations".

28 September 2009

Ha, this time really on Monday!

Ok, so I am back in Vienna ... for three days ... well, I'll be back on Friday night - some parties to attend...
Anyway, on the trip to Podersdorf last weekend (I got there from Graz), one w2m turned up, which many colleagues know for quite some time: Dreiervorschlag (proposition of three...). One definitely should use such propositions, may they be regular, irregular, or propositions for four, more frequently! Have much fun sitting in commissions, where these proposals for new professors are assembled, thinking about the suggestions! ;)

20 September 2009

Kreisverkehr

(roundabout in British English) 4 U. & me.

Erfurt was great fun, we were gambling a lot (only once for money). And even the trip back over Dresden had some surprises :). Anyway, I am back in Vienna since 6.30 and off to the ÖMG/DMV meeting in Graz at 17:03.

12 September 2009

Sommerloch

I got this w2m while thinking about Austrian politics. Anyway, the Italian railway sucks, but at least I'm back in Vienna to be on my way to Erfurt (vacation uh yeah!).

08 September 2009

Well,

I'm off to 43° 15' 50.9'' N, 11° 13' 46,7'' E tomorrow to give a lecture in a summer school on hybrid modeling. (That is Italy, Tuscany, near Siena, didn't you know?!) And the next two weeks I'm also not in Vienna (visiting W&P in Erfurt and the ÖMG/DMV congress in Graz and then ... well, wait and read :) ). And since virtually nobody is at the university during the students holidays, I have nobody to talk to (only virtually). So how should I come up with a "Wort zum Montag", if there is nobody to chat to discuss mathematical problems with.

Well, the solution is simple, I give you some pics from my vacation in Helsinki and Stockholm this sumer:

For the friends of the bachelor (Bakkelauriat, Bak.):

If you like old things (alas, no hidden imperative):

Well, I guess that's an obvious name:


04 September 2009

Friday already!

I was at the EU-conference "The Knowledge Triangle Shaping the Future of Europe" in Gothenburg this week ... I guess this suffices as this weeks entry! ;)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(the "you-know-what-triangle", slow-coach!)

25 August 2009

versteckter Imperativ/hidden imperative

The weekly newspaper 'Falter' is a hidden imperative in German for 'you, fold', translated approximately. And since it is Monday, I wondered if the word today could be a hidden imperative. This is a word, which has a hidden command in it. In German that is rather easy, due to the many compound nouns. There are quite some forums around with such words (see, e.g., here). However, I wondered if there are such words around in English, since I want all those many regular readers and all the people in the world to understand my blog! (Thank you, Boris!) *g*

I was surprised, that many of the direct translations work:
Korkenzieher - corkscrew, is an example with a similar meaning.
Fallobst - windfall, hey, maybe the fruits or the wind obeys, who knows?
Denkweise - mindset or mindset, in German wishful thinking, in English giving a command to the mind or a (often used?) mathematical command. I like the fact, that this is a twofold hidden imperative :) .

Well, these were pretty normal examples. It is funnier, when you command somebody with it:
Eilbote - express, yeah, i guess my ex should press some things sometimes.
Waschweib - fishwife, I really like this translation, I learned a new English word :) .

And then there are some words which cannot be translated, like:
Fliehkraft - schon wieder Physik! (Physics once again!)
Steckrübe - | hehehe ...
and of course the webpage from my last entry ...

21 August 2009

What you need, when you need it

I like this advertising slogan from the page
In German it is even funnier ;) !

18 August 2009

Well, it is Tuesday already.

So I will give some of the old "Wörter zum Montag". I recognized, that it is almost impossible to translate them to English. Of course there some English words around, like 'cocktail' or the mineral 'commingtonite' from last week. You probably don't know what a pleonasm is, so let me cite the "Oxford English Dictionary" (hey - they put all the stuff online, you know ?):

pleonasm

/pleeonaz’m/

noun the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning (e.g. see with one’s eyes).

— DERIVATIVES pleonastic adjective.

— ORIGIN Greek pleonasmos, from pleonazein ‘be superfluous’.

So actually I am kind of surprised now, since we are back to physics, once again, with superfluidity. Anyway, I am sidetracking. Other pleonasms are 'round circle', 'aged old man', or 'white milk'. And 'cocktail', as a pleonasm, clearly qualifies as a "word to Monday". As do the German words 'Wurstzipfel' and 'Rohrspatz' (or 'Dreckspatz', if you like it a little dirty ... but unfortunately only for catholics it is a pleonasm). Actually, 'Wurstzipfel' may be understood as the pleonastic translation of 'cocktail'. (Gee - "pleonastic translation" - another term I invented ?)


14 August 2009

I like Chemistry, sometimes ...

So solid state physics can also be something else than boring: cummingtonite (thanks to Andis and FLO).

12 August 2009

Some times I wonder:

Who makes the names of products ? This piece of art below I found last year, when visiting good friends in Erfurt ( P&W c u soon :) ):

Well, I guess you have to know the German pronunciation and meaning of
"Muh-Muh", handmade, cut and wrapped ...

11 August 2009

Some old pictures ...

Here are some old and new pictures of ... hmmm ... well, let's say "somewhat ambiguous" or funny content, just to try out the possibilities of this blog ;)

"Vienna district journal, 23 times straight in" ... i bet so ...

I always knew I liked Castrol ....

And here a rather expensive soft-drink machine ...

So as you (and I) can now see, putting pictures online works fine. Of course I could have guessed so, after all I'm following Boris blog.

In the beginning was the word.

And the word was with me. Just to make a notion about the name of my blog: in a wide-spread Austrian newspaper there is on Sundays always a "Wort zum Sonntag", which translates as "Word to Sunday", by a catholic bishop. Since I think that "language is just a tool to confuse" (© by myself till proofed otherwise), I want to promote this idea. And one excellent method is to give every monday a phrase, word, or picture which shows this idea (one of many good ideas given birth in Johnny's, also c.f. to be updated). So the blog is actually called "Word to Monday".

So here I am, joining up to the youthful blogging part of the society. Postings will be irregularly and not always on Mondays, but life teaches you always to expect the unexpected ... yes, I studies physics, thanks for asking. Further I will also post in German, so be my guest to learn some German, oder auch Englisch, while reading "Wort zum Montag". Of course monday is also everyones favorite working day! ;)