I know - it's not Friday yet. But they said "by Friday - latest", which means I sincerely hoped the package would have arrived today. Which it didn't :-(
Waiting
tbcThursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Replacing a mobile phone - Part I
Until several weeks ago I was perfectly happy with my nokia n95. GPS, WLAN, Music, IMAP-Function and it even allowed me to make phone calls ;) I was happy with it until the cat stood/walked on it and the broke the screen, it looked like a spiderweb but still worked - until I dropped it. That left me no other choice than working with my backup phone, still a nokia but n73. Why had I overlooked that this model doesn't have WLAN? On top of that, handling is different from that of the n95 and this drives me crazy. I've been close - more than once - to just throw it across the room.
The nokia n97 truly fascinates me, but I can't wait until summer. There's a Sony X1 xperia, which has the same problem as some HTC's - why have a touch screen and reserve 1/4 of the top for some buttons? And the keyboard didn't really convince me.
Some research, including functionality and pricing, plus some recommendations finally led me to the decision to get an iPhone. Me, who always said this was a toy and not a mobile phone ;)
I had to discuss this with G, and after some valid arguments from my side she was convinced that I needed one to stay sane *g
Mission to buy an iPhone started Monday, when I tried the online shop. I needed a French ID-Card and had to provide the Department where I was born. Germany not being a French department, this first try failed. I send them a message via the contact form and received a phone number, though I wasn't sure if they'd understood my problem, it was a computer generated answer.
Mission continued Tuesday, where I had the idea to visit one of their shops. They wanted a credit card and a RIB! As if I always had a RIB with me. The guy quite was stubborn and not really helpful, when I asked him if there was no other way, as I was already a client, he said something like "it's easy, you just need a RIB". Yeah - my answer "Mais ca c'est vraiment emmerdant "
Mission continued later in the afternoon when I called that number and guess what? Delivery until Friday, latest :-)))to be continued
Sunday, March 8, 2009
bits and pieces, and some bytes
Been suffering from some severe sleeping problems lately. Not that this would be new to me, but it's different this time. My inner clock keeps telling me, that getting up between 3 and 4 am is just the proper time for getting up. And with my back problems still present, I hardly ever manage to get back to sleep. The backside of this is that I get tired way too early and still I don't manage to get more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep. Doesn't help to improve my mood at all.
Managed to finally finish a long overdue task for work (unfortunately only one among many others) but the results were quite uplifting for me. I tailored a PowerPoint training for clients and despite the fact that expectations of the attendees had completely grown out of hand, their feedback was extremely positive.
I'm still mad at the fact that my colleagues ignored my blocked days at the start of this week. G will be back at the hospital, to get the plate and screws in her leg removed and I'd looked forward to some time on my own, including staying up late, surfing the internet until falling asleep and most importantly watching silly french or english movies while eating comfort food, including pancakes ;)
Tuesday we went to the most memorable concert in a long time, Patricia Kaas in Zurich; don't worry, I won't start again, I already wrote at lengths about this concert. Then Saturday I remembered having read about Pink giving another additional concert in Zurich in December, to which ticket sales should have opened on Friday. Booked the tickets immediately after we were back from shopping, also booked tickets for Ina Müller (November). Searches if Annie Lennox, Sharleen Spiteri and others will be coming somewhere near us still came up empty.
It's been already several weeks, that something damaged the screen of my mobile phone (nokia n95), but it's been only two weeks, that I cannot use it anymore at all. My backup phone is a nokia n73 and I'm terribly missing the WLAN. Until I broke it, I hadn't thought of replacing the n95, yet I'd been curious about the Google Android phone. But honestly speaking, the current available models are just plain ugly. So I had set my eyes on the nokia n97 and would have patiently waited until its release, well if I hadn't read about a kindle-software for the iphone (blame @dreams_). Now I'm back to thinking if I should get an iphone?
Funny things happened in the virtual world, yesterday marked the first time in my twitter life that I had more followers than I'm following ;-) That changed this morning, when I found out that Agent Olivia Dunham is also on twitter. On facebook I was befriended by someone I don't know at all, don't have any friends in common, but I'm pretty sure that this is related to my joining some political groups yesterday, including "Gleichstellung in der Familienpolitik".
Now should try to get myself together and watch my taped "La vie est à nous" episode.
Managed to finally finish a long overdue task for work (unfortunately only one among many others) but the results were quite uplifting for me. I tailored a PowerPoint training for clients and despite the fact that expectations of the attendees had completely grown out of hand, their feedback was extremely positive.
I'm still mad at the fact that my colleagues ignored my blocked days at the start of this week. G will be back at the hospital, to get the plate and screws in her leg removed and I'd looked forward to some time on my own, including staying up late, surfing the internet until falling asleep and most importantly watching silly french or english movies while eating comfort food, including pancakes ;)
Tuesday we went to the most memorable concert in a long time, Patricia Kaas in Zurich; don't worry, I won't start again, I already wrote at lengths about this concert. Then Saturday I remembered having read about Pink giving another additional concert in Zurich in December, to which ticket sales should have opened on Friday. Booked the tickets immediately after we were back from shopping, also booked tickets for Ina Müller (November). Searches if Annie Lennox, Sharleen Spiteri and others will be coming somewhere near us still came up empty.
It's been already several weeks, that something damaged the screen of my mobile phone (nokia n95), but it's been only two weeks, that I cannot use it anymore at all. My backup phone is a nokia n73 and I'm terribly missing the WLAN. Until I broke it, I hadn't thought of replacing the n95, yet I'd been curious about the Google Android phone. But honestly speaking, the current available models are just plain ugly. So I had set my eyes on the nokia n97 and would have patiently waited until its release, well if I hadn't read about a kindle-software for the iphone (blame @dreams_). Now I'm back to thinking if I should get an iphone?
Funny things happened in the virtual world, yesterday marked the first time in my twitter life that I had more followers than I'm following ;-) That changed this morning, when I found out that Agent Olivia Dunham is also on twitter. On facebook I was befriended by someone I don't know at all, don't have any friends in common, but I'm pretty sure that this is related to my joining some political groups yesterday, including "Gleichstellung in der Familienpolitik".
Now should try to get myself together and watch my taped "La vie est à nous" episode.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Mes femmes en majuscules!
Patricia Kaas in concert in Zürich. Contrary to other locations she played at a smaller venue, I'm not good at guessing, but I don't believe that it seated much more than thousand. I'd already had the pleasure to see her once at a concert, also in Zurich, but back then in the Hallenstadion, which is just a big, unpersonal venue. This Kongresshalle suited me way better and in the end even G was convinced that the intimite setting served the show. Oh - and I'd once seen her at a screening for Taratata where she was the special guest, I'd known her music and hence her incredible voice before but it was only then that I realised that she's such a small and somehow fragile looking woman.
Lights went out, only a light spot here and there; musicians appeared on stage, then some movements like those from an acrobat and somebody starting introducing the instruments and their musicians, the dancer and what we should expect from the show.
The show was a homage to cabaret (it's titled Kabaret) and the women of the thirties.
But as we were in Zurich, people don't stop talking just because something is happening on stage, only when the music gets loud enough or the artist appears on stage, they'll stop talking. Cause otherwise I can't explain how the couple next to us got the idea, that the dancer (Stephanie Pignon, for those who are interested in such detail) on stage was Patricia Kaas?! Patricia was making the introductions and hers a voice I'd recognize everywhere, drunk, asleep, whatever - her speaking voice is husky, quite low and very erotic.
When she finally came onto stage, I was relieved to see that the promo shots for the show were only for the shots and not her new style.
I don't know how to describe her outfit so decide for yourself ;-)
Check out the entire set of pictures here
A German magazine wrote that she wore a breeze of nothing, sadly enough though that I haven't foundany enough pictures until now *g
But it's true that later she shed the necklace top-thing and wore something like pajama-bottoms, only more stylish. Oh - and at one point she changed into a very elegant black dress.
All of the songs were accompanied by short movies playing on the screen at the back of the stage, some of the songs were rearranged to fit the thirties-style but remained recognizable.
Am I digressing? On stage she repeated the introduction in German and I was relieved once again, that she hadn't lost as much of her cute accent as I'd feared. She managed to say "zeitgenössische Kultur" (according to herself the most difficult word of the evening) without breaking her tongue ;)
I can't remember all the songs she performed, and "perform" is the proper term in this context cause she didn't not simply stand there and sing (with which I'd already been happy enough), no she performed - danced, played, tried to loosen up the crowd...
....back to the songs, sometimes she started with German lyrics which always sounds kind of strange, these are - after all - songs that fit the chanson/blues/jazz-genre. The second song was about clowns, and third was "Les hommes qui passent...", which is one of my favorite song. And wasn't it in this song that she started flirting with the dancer? Who, btw. was present most of the time, even with some solos, and was like just an additional instrument on stage, I do wonder though if here bones were made out of rubber?
Patricia and the dancer did the most erotic moves together, some synchronized, some slightly off (G insists that Patricia couldn't keep up) and some mirrored. It wasn't the blatant humping you might now from Madonna concerts, no it was the tiny gestures, delicate moves which got my attention.
Dialogue between G and M
G: did you recognize Josephine Baker?
M: where?
G: in the background video?
M: video?
G: the movie? playing in the background?
M: uhm, no. I was completely busy watching Patricia doing whatever with the dancer
Well at least G wasn't mad me, she smirked at me *g
I liked that there was no intermission, that costume changes were filled with sections by the dancer. E.g. instead of introducing each instrument and musician once again and doing weird moves in front of them while they played their solo, Patricia was nowhere to be seen, the dancer was on stage and danced a duet with the instrument. That part with the bass was particularly beautiful.
I guess this should be the time where I add "I hate ballet, I hate dancers, this is nothing for me". I'm surprised at myself! I loved it! Repeat: I l o v e d it! I can't wait until this show will be available on DVD - I checked, it isn't - yet.
There were so many other songs, the first encore gave us "Mademoiselle Chante Le Blues" and simply by writing this I'm getting goosebumps :)
Wow! That song should have lasted hours, it felt like 10 minutes and those were incredible. It's one of the first songs of her career but it's totally ageless. Well, not entirely true, the older she gets the better sounds "elle a du gospel dans la voix et elle y croit".
Guess I'm still high from that. All in all she gave three encores, she had to, she had to bring us down at least a bit after this performance :)
Back home I checked her tour dates and found out that she'll be playing in Strasbourg, April 11th and apparently in Saint-Louis (my Saint-Louis? Are there more than one in France?) on July 24th. Who's going? *g
Some dancing:
(some might be interested in the last 20 seconds, though it's not exactly to what we were treated)
Homepage: http://www.kabaretkaas.com/kabaret/
Myspace: http://www.kabaretkaas.com/myspace/
Lights went out, only a light spot here and there; musicians appeared on stage, then some movements like those from an acrobat and somebody starting introducing the instruments and their musicians, the dancer and what we should expect from the show.
The show was a homage to cabaret (it's titled Kabaret) and the women of the thirties.
But as we were in Zurich, people don't stop talking just because something is happening on stage, only when the music gets loud enough or the artist appears on stage, they'll stop talking. Cause otherwise I can't explain how the couple next to us got the idea, that the dancer (Stephanie Pignon, for those who are interested in such detail) on stage was Patricia Kaas?! Patricia was making the introductions and hers a voice I'd recognize everywhere, drunk, asleep, whatever - her speaking voice is husky, quite low and very erotic.
When she finally came onto stage, I was relieved to see that the promo shots for the show were only for the shots and not her new style.
I don't know how to describe her outfit so decide for yourself ;-)
Check out the entire set of pictures here
A German magazine wrote that she wore a breeze of nothing, sadly enough though that I haven't found
But it's true that later she shed the necklace top-thing and wore something like pajama-bottoms, only more stylish. Oh - and at one point she changed into a very elegant black dress.
All of the songs were accompanied by short movies playing on the screen at the back of the stage, some of the songs were rearranged to fit the thirties-style but remained recognizable.
Am I digressing? On stage she repeated the introduction in German and I was relieved once again, that she hadn't lost as much of her cute accent as I'd feared. She managed to say "zeitgenössische Kultur" (according to herself the most difficult word of the evening) without breaking her tongue ;)
I can't remember all the songs she performed, and "perform" is the proper term in this context cause she didn't not simply stand there and sing (with which I'd already been happy enough), no she performed - danced, played, tried to loosen up the crowd...
....back to the songs, sometimes she started with German lyrics which always sounds kind of strange, these are - after all - songs that fit the chanson/blues/jazz-genre. The second song was about clowns, and third was "Les hommes qui passent...", which is one of my favorite song. And wasn't it in this song that she started flirting with the dancer? Who, btw. was present most of the time, even with some solos, and was like just an additional instrument on stage, I do wonder though if here bones were made out of rubber?
Patricia and the dancer did the most erotic moves together, some synchronized, some slightly off (G insists that Patricia couldn't keep up) and some mirrored. It wasn't the blatant humping you might now from Madonna concerts, no it was the tiny gestures, delicate moves which got my attention.
Dialogue between G and M
G: did you recognize Josephine Baker?
M: where?
G: in the background video?
M: video?
G: the movie? playing in the background?
M: uhm, no. I was completely busy watching Patricia doing whatever with the dancer
Well at least G wasn't mad me, she smirked at me *g
I liked that there was no intermission, that costume changes were filled with sections by the dancer. E.g. instead of introducing each instrument and musician once again and doing weird moves in front of them while they played their solo, Patricia was nowhere to be seen, the dancer was on stage and danced a duet with the instrument. That part with the bass was particularly beautiful.
I guess this should be the time where I add "I hate ballet, I hate dancers, this is nothing for me". I'm surprised at myself! I loved it! Repeat: I l o v e d it! I can't wait until this show will be available on DVD - I checked, it isn't - yet.
There were so many other songs, the first encore gave us "Mademoiselle Chante Le Blues" and simply by writing this I'm getting goosebumps :)
Wow! That song should have lasted hours, it felt like 10 minutes and those were incredible. It's one of the first songs of her career but it's totally ageless. Well, not entirely true, the older she gets the better sounds "elle a du gospel dans la voix et elle y croit".
Guess I'm still high from that. All in all she gave three encores, she had to, she had to bring us down at least a bit after this performance :)
Back home I checked her tour dates and found out that she'll be playing in Strasbourg, April 11th and apparently in Saint-Louis (my Saint-Louis? Are there more than one in France?) on July 24th. Who's going? *g
Some dancing:
(some might be interested in the last 20 seconds, though it's not exactly to what we were treated)
Homepage: http://www.kabaretkaas.com/kabaret/
Myspace: http://www.kabaretkaas.com/myspace/
Monday, March 2, 2009
My tv-series are back :)
Busy times ahead :) Cold Case started last Friday, Navy CIS came back yesterday with new episodes, The Mentalist started, Life (already showing on SF2) will start next week, Fringe is also scheduled - guess I'll be having square eyes in about 14 days ;)
I'm not sure which eposide of NCIS I saw, but it started with this, and what does a girl need more?
I'm not sure which eposide of NCIS I saw, but it started with this, and what does a girl need more?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Vom Versuch, Tickets für ein Frauenfussball Länderspiel aus dem Ausland zu bestellen
Kaum zu glauben. Da will frau sich das Frauen-Fußballländerspiel Deutschland gegen Brasilien in Frankfurt anschauen und dann das ….
Nachdem ich mir das Länderspiel Schweiz gegen Deutschland am 1.10.2008 in Basel live angeschaut hatte, wuchs in mir der Wunsch „nach mehr“. Es sollte die Europa-Meisterschaft in Finnland sein. Die internen Verhandlungen verliefen aber nicht so gut, leider. Aus Finnland wird nix.
Dann las ich vom Länderspiel Deutschland gegen Brasilien in Frankfurt am 22.4.2009 und war wieder Feuer und Flamme. Diesmal war meine „Holde“ einverstanden.
Gesagt, getan.
Aber wo bekomme ich die Tickets her. Nirgends ein Hinweis, bis ……. Gestern las ich auf der Internetseite des DFB das erstemal von den Tickets. Supi.
Ich den Link zum Ticketanbieter (Eventim Sports) angeklickt und nach Plätzen gesucht. Hm….. aber wo genau in Frankfurt liegt das Stadion? Commerzbank-Arena ??? Auch das habe ich bald gefunden und mich entschieden, dass die Haupttribüne genial für uns geeignet ist. Die Anbindung vom Frankfurt Hbf mit der Tram wäre genial. Jetzt noch die entsprechenden Züge von Basel nach Frankfurt ausgesucht. Hey, super, es gibt noch Angebote und wir können zu zweit für 116 € hin und zurück mit der DB fahren.
So, jetzt die Eintrittskarten definitiv buchen. Und damit fing das Problem erst so richtig an.
Als ich im Internet mühsamst alle Daten eingegeben und speziell auch die Lieferadresse innerhalb von Deutschland angegeben hatte, schrieb „das blöde Ding“ zurück, dass eine Buchung nicht durchgeführt werden konnte. Gründe nannte „das blöde Ding“ nicht.
Schitt aber auch. Ich schrieb an die Helpline von EventIm Sports und wartete …….
Dann schrieb ich dem Ticket-Service vom DFB eine Mail und eine nette Dame antwortete mir fast blitzartig.
Ihr Rat, ich solle mich an die DFB-Hotline -- Telefon-.Nr. in Deutschland natürlich -- wenden. Super. Jetzt sollte ich auch noch zusätzlich einige EURO fürs Telefonieren ausgeben. Ich fragte nach einer Mail-Adresse, da mir die voraussichtlichen Telefonkosten dann doch zu hoch waren. Die nette Dame antwortete prompt und bot mir Ihre uneigennützige Hilfe an. Ich solle ihr alle Angaben zuschicken und dann würde Sie für mich die Reservierung durchführen. In der Zwischenzeit fand ich noch ein Bestellformular für die Tickets, füllte es aus und schickte es der netten Dame zu ….. und wartete…..
Am nächsten Tag …..
Von der Helpline erhielt ich am nächsten Tag eine Mail mit der Erklärung, dass es wohl Server-Probleme gegeben hätte und ich die Bestellung nochmals versuchen sollte. Gesagt, getan.
Alles noch mal ausgefüllt und auf der letzten Seite wieder auf BUCHUNG geklickt. Prompt kam die Meldung, dass eine Buchung nicht durchgeführt werden konnte. Wieder ohne weitere Erklärung.
Ich schrieb eine Mail an die nette Dame vom Ticket-Service des DFB und fragte nach dem Stand der Dinge. Schließlich wollte ich ja die Tickets für die DB auch schnellstens kaufen, damit mir das Angebot nicht noch „durch die Lappen“ geht.
Keine Antwort. Ob die Dame schon ins Wochenende gedüst ist??
1 Stunde später
Das ist jetzt aber ein Ding. Ich habe soeben in unserem Supermarkt in Deutschland angerufen und siehe da……. Vielleicht habe ich Glück…… Sie sehen in Ihrem Ticketsystem zwar den Event, können aber keine Tickets buchen, weil sie noch nicht „freigeschaltet „ sind für dieses System. Dies werden sie aber jetzt sofort machen und dann wieder zurückrufen. Die Hoffnung steigt ….
Wenig später
Anruf vom Supermarkt. Die Freischaltung ist beantragt und so bald alles klar ist, werden Sie sich wieder bei mir melden :-)))))
Ich werde jetzt trotzdem schon die Fahrkarten bei der Bahn bestellen. Sicher ist sicher.
UPDATE:
Ich bekam soeben einen Anruf von meinem Supermarkt und die Karten sind bestellt. Morgen früh kann ich sie abholen. SO EIN TAG; SO WUNDERSCHÖN WIE HEUTE
:-))))))
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Stürmischer Start
Letzte Woche war wirklich heftig, nicht nur, dass ich mir die seit Jahren stärkste Erkältung eingehandelt hatte; nein, uns haben auch die Ausläufer des Sturms ziemlich durchgeschüttelt. Mit dramatischen Auswirkungen ;-) Immer noch kein pro7, sat1 und kabel1, arte und die digitalen von ard mucken auch ziemlich; oh und von Eutelsat ganz zu schweigen. Klar habe ich einen Techniker angefordert, der kommt auch schon in 14 Tagen. Noch zwei weitere Folgen von TSCC (The Sarah Connor Chronicles), die ich nicht sehen kann :-(
Hoffentlich klappt das dann auch alles, denn so langsam kommen ab Ende Februar auch endlich wieder neue Serien oder neue Folgen bekannter und geliebter Serien in der Kiste. Z.B. Cold Case, Spurlos verschwunden, CSI Las Vegas, aber auch Fringe mit der wunderbaren Anna Torv :) (So was wie Akte X nur besser *g)
Klar, natürlich läuft momentan auch neues von Law & Order SVU, aber irgendwie lenken mich die ständig wechselnden Frisuren von Det. Benson von den Geschichten ab. Mal schaun, wie das weiter geht.
Hoffentlich klappt das dann auch alles, denn so langsam kommen ab Ende Februar auch endlich wieder neue Serien oder neue Folgen bekannter und geliebter Serien in der Kiste. Z.B. Cold Case, Spurlos verschwunden, CSI Las Vegas, aber auch Fringe mit der wunderbaren Anna Torv :) (So was wie Akte X nur besser *g)
Klar, natürlich läuft momentan auch neues von Law & Order SVU, aber irgendwie lenken mich die ständig wechselnden Frisuren von Det. Benson von den Geschichten ab. Mal schaun, wie das weiter geht.
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