Hmmm... a sleepy & lazy sunday... I havent changed out of my bathrobe yet, and its two already! Niceness. I think I needed a day like this. Just another half hour like this & than I'll go have a shower & get ready to do what I planned. After all, I have a full tank of gas, a vague destination, a bike which hasnt been used anywhere nearly enough yet this year, and (luckily) a waterproof suit.
Me gonna go ridin!!!
I havent got a clue where I'll end up, the idea is to head for the little roads around the "Utrechtse heuvelrug". I might visit a friend or two when Im there, but perhaps I'l just keep riding instead. We'll see.
Have a nice sunday everyone, Im heading out!
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Friday, 5 December 2008
Action today!
Global warming....
Some people still think that its nothing more than a big conspiracy of "lefty-greeny-treehuggers" to damn cars and industryl, so we all can go back to the middle ages. Im not sure why said shrub fornicators would want that, but lets just say that they have some vague reason for it.
On the other hand, I dont really think there is any serious doubt within the scientific community that man is having a profound effect on our world, and that one of the many ways this is showing is in the temerature. Dont be fooled into thinking that that is the only dissaster waiting to happen though. Polution is still rising, species are still dying off at an alarming rate (Each year as many as 50,000 species disappear, which is roughly 100 to 1000 times the "normal" rate), habitat destruction is making sure the damage can never be repaired (well, not in a timescale I can work with, after the dinosaurs died off, it took 30 million years to "repair the damage") and potentially hazardous instalations / weapons / technologies are becoming more and more abundant worldwide.
So, when a credit crisis occured, and the bankaccounts of the superrich were in danger of NOT GROWING QUITE AS FAST (cause thats all it is really), we found a staggering 2 and a half TRILLION dollars! (actually 2380 Bn from europe and the US alone) within less than a year.
However, to keep this ball of life on which we live suitable to sustain our childeren as well as our retirement, we fail to faind even 1% of this. Kind of says something horrible about our priorities. Quite franky, these figures scare me and make me very angry.
Today I heard of a new effort to focus on at leeast the most visible of these problems, global warming. I recieved an email stating the following, and I would really like to share this with you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends
This Saturday December 6 is the Global Day of Action on Climate Change.
Millions of activists worldwide will take action to show how much they care
about our planet, and to point out the urgency of solving the current climate
crisis. You can be part of this, either by joining events near you, or by taking
action online.
We have a really simple action for you to do right now that could make a big
difference!
Getting people to listen and talk about their concerns is the first step to
getting them to change and take action. Today, we're asking you to help us
by taking part in a conversation about climate change on YouTube - the
world's most popular video sharing website. On Saturday we're hoping
that YouTube's “most commented” video will be about climate change,
bringing the issue to the attention of millions people.
This is what we need you to do:
1. Sign into your YouTube account or create one if you don't have one
already.
2. Watch this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
3. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below the video
4. Tell all your friends
Please help get the conversation going and ensure that on the Global Day of
Action on Climate Change everybody is talking about the climate.
When you're done, why not check out our new blog, with all the latest news
on the UN climate talks in Poznan'?
http://www.foei.org/en/blog
Many thanks,
The Friends of the Earth International secretariat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Come on, be a sport and take some action. We all talk about it. We all know better than the politicians. So now there is a chance to actually do something (even if it is something quite small), and I for one am taking it!
So please join me, take 5 minutes to watch the movie & leave a comment. And perhaps try to do that little bit more in your personal life to contribute to our species survival.
Thanks!
Ps. Ive attached the youtube film here
Some people still think that its nothing more than a big conspiracy of "lefty-greeny-treehuggers" to damn cars and industryl, so we all can go back to the middle ages. Im not sure why said shrub fornicators would want that, but lets just say that they have some vague reason for it.
On the other hand, I dont really think there is any serious doubt within the scientific community that man is having a profound effect on our world, and that one of the many ways this is showing is in the temerature. Dont be fooled into thinking that that is the only dissaster waiting to happen though. Polution is still rising, species are still dying off at an alarming rate (Each year as many as 50,000 species disappear, which is roughly 100 to 1000 times the "normal" rate), habitat destruction is making sure the damage can never be repaired (well, not in a timescale I can work with, after the dinosaurs died off, it took 30 million years to "repair the damage") and potentially hazardous instalations / weapons / technologies are becoming more and more abundant worldwide.
So, when a credit crisis occured, and the bankaccounts of the superrich were in danger of NOT GROWING QUITE AS FAST (cause thats all it is really), we found a staggering 2 and a half TRILLION dollars! (actually 2380 Bn from europe and the US alone) within less than a year.
However, to keep this ball of life on which we live suitable to sustain our childeren as well as our retirement, we fail to faind even 1% of this. Kind of says something horrible about our priorities. Quite franky, these figures scare me and make me very angry.
Today I heard of a new effort to focus on at leeast the most visible of these problems, global warming. I recieved an email stating the following, and I would really like to share this with you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends
This Saturday December 6 is the Global Day of Action on Climate Change.
Millions of activists worldwide will take action to show how much they care
about our planet, and to point out the urgency of solving the current climate
crisis. You can be part of this, either by joining events near you, or by taking
action online.
We have a really simple action for you to do right now that could make a big
difference!
Getting people to listen and talk about their concerns is the first step to
getting them to change and take action. Today, we're asking you to help us
by taking part in a conversation about climate change on YouTube - the
world's most popular video sharing website. On Saturday we're hoping
that YouTube's “most commented” video will be about climate change,
bringing the issue to the attention of millions people.
This is what we need you to do:
1. Sign into your YouTube account or create one if you don't have one
already.
2. Watch this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
3. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below the video
4. Tell all your friends
Please help get the conversation going and ensure that on the Global Day of
Action on Climate Change everybody is talking about the climate.
When you're done, why not check out our new blog, with all the latest news
on the UN climate talks in Poznan'?
http://www.foei.org/en/blog
Many thanks,
The Friends of the Earth International secretariat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Come on, be a sport and take some action. We all talk about it. We all know better than the politicians. So now there is a chance to actually do something (even if it is something quite small), and I for one am taking it!
So please join me, take 5 minutes to watch the movie & leave a comment. And perhaps try to do that little bit more in your personal life to contribute to our species survival.
Thanks!
Ps. Ive attached the youtube film here
Monday, 6 October 2008
Woehoeee!!!!
The bike is everything I hoped for!! its wonderful! I cant tell you how great it is to be tearing down the highway! How brilliant it is to just let her go & accelerate away from everything. How wonderful she sounds (the slow, deep & heavy bop-bop-bop of a BMW boxer engine). And how nice it is to be able to jump on the bike & go wherever!
Unfortunaltely the weather was awfull this weekend, but I didnt let that stop me. Visited loads of friends, got soaked, visited more friends, got even more soaked & did shopping (ok, I admit, not the most practial thing to do on a motorbike, but I'll take any excuse to ride now ;-) ).
Its a thing of beauty... Lots of power at low revs, which is great for acceleration. pleanty of speed to tear down the highway with (max I took it to so far, 160 kph). And the girl says its comfortable on the back. A fiend gave me some pointers about riding with a pretty lady on the back.
"The trick is" he said, "to first accelarate hard. That way she'll cuddle you properly."
"Than, when you have a bit of speed, squeese your brakes once, short but hard. Now she's slid up against your back, and you can enjoy the feeling the rest of the ride..."
Sounds like good advice, I'll have to try that soon...
Anyway, here's a picture. And now back to work for me!
The bike is everything I hoped for!! its wonderful! I cant tell you how great it is to be tearing down the highway! How brilliant it is to just let her go & accelerate away from everything. How wonderful she sounds (the slow, deep & heavy bop-bop-bop of a BMW boxer engine). And how nice it is to be able to jump on the bike & go wherever!
Unfortunaltely the weather was awfull this weekend, but I didnt let that stop me. Visited loads of friends, got soaked, visited more friends, got even more soaked & did shopping (ok, I admit, not the most practial thing to do on a motorbike, but I'll take any excuse to ride now ;-) ).
Its a thing of beauty... Lots of power at low revs, which is great for acceleration. pleanty of speed to tear down the highway with (max I took it to so far, 160 kph). And the girl says its comfortable on the back. A fiend gave me some pointers about riding with a pretty lady on the back.
"The trick is" he said, "to first accelarate hard. That way she'll cuddle you properly."
"Than, when you have a bit of speed, squeese your brakes once, short but hard. Now she's slid up against your back, and you can enjoy the feeling the rest of the ride..."
Sounds like good advice, I'll have to try that soon...
Anyway, here's a picture. And now back to work for me!
Friday, 3 October 2008
Excited...
I feel jittery as a schoolgirl... (although Id prefer to feel up a jittery schoolgirl of course! But no such luck today ;-) )
Its friday (a good reason to feel jittery in itself) october 3rd 2008. Im 32 years old, and close to the fullfilment of a boyhood dream (no, im not refering to the schoolgirls again)...
Tomorrow I'm buying my first motorbike!!
After 3 months of lessons, saving money (quite expensive lessons...), of being called obsessed by my friends (they did have a point to be quite honest), of looking and drooling at bikes, of listning to good advice while I wanted to be riding instead. Tomorrow it will finally happen. Me gonna become a biker, and more importantly, I'll finally be less reliant on the bloody trains...
Boots -- Check!
Suit -- Check!
Helmet -- Check!
Gloves -- Check!
Cool glasses -- Check! (these were a present from my darling little girl, isnt she sweet?)
Beard -- Check! (hey, realism counts for something)
Now all I need is asphalt (insert crooked bikersmile here).
Oh and some sunshine would be nice, but alas, no such luck this weekend. 90% chance of rain rain rain... never mind, Im going to have a great time anyway ;-)
Its friday (a good reason to feel jittery in itself) october 3rd 2008. Im 32 years old, and close to the fullfilment of a boyhood dream (no, im not refering to the schoolgirls again)...
Tomorrow I'm buying my first motorbike!!
After 3 months of lessons, saving money (quite expensive lessons...), of being called obsessed by my friends (they did have a point to be quite honest), of looking and drooling at bikes, of listning to good advice while I wanted to be riding instead. Tomorrow it will finally happen. Me gonna become a biker, and more importantly, I'll finally be less reliant on the bloody trains...
Boots -- Check!
Suit -- Check!
Helmet -- Check!
Gloves -- Check!
Cool glasses -- Check! (these were a present from my darling little girl, isnt she sweet?)
Beard -- Check! (hey, realism counts for something)
Now all I need is asphalt (insert crooked bikersmile here).
Oh and some sunshine would be nice, but alas, no such luck this weekend. 90% chance of rain rain rain... never mind, Im going to have a great time anyway ;-)
Monday, 1 September 2008
The English Language
LEGAL NOTICE: most of what is written in this email is a serious affront to human sanity. It should by no means be taken seriously, imbibed or spread on toast (unless it has been diluted in a large bucket of fish first).
This was writen as a mail to my foreign girlfriend. She sometimes has a bit of trouble with the complexities of the lovely (if not always practical) English language.
Baby, Darling, Lover...
Sometimes I tell you that you make confusing mistakes in English. Sometimes these lead to misunderstandings between us, which can on occasion lead to arguements, which in turn can sometimes turn nasty (before we realise that its a missunderstanding).
But, when I correct you, I am not trying to tell you that your stupid (when I actually tell you you're stupid, than I am trying to tell you that you're stupid). When I explain to you that the way you said something is very offensive in English, even if you didn't mean it in an offensive way, I'm not accusing you of being callous or spiteful.
You see, English is a very difficult language. Sometimes native English speakers make English mistakes too, really they do! Of course we all know that Americans are a good example of the difficulties of speaking proper English, as they on average make one critical language mistake each word that they pronounce. So compared to them, your English is in fact very good!
Australians have avoided the whole affair by developing such an outrageously strong accent that the rest of the English speaking world cannot understand them at all, and therefore cannot be offended by the gross grammatical and contextual errors that they may (or may not) be making. Certain countries like, for instance, Jamaica, have adopted a very creative approach to dealing with the tremendous difficulties of this complex language. They have introduced making deliberate mistakes as a badge of honour. An individual making these deliberate mistakes shows he is part of a community and that he conforms to its rules. Additionally (/importantly) making these deliberate mistakes also camouflages the abundance of accidental mistakes they make. This method of coping with the traumatising effects of the English language is now known as "being cool".
It is therefore gratifying to know that at least one country in the world has the ability and the drive to do this wonderful language justice. To correctly apply the rules and conventions which they themselves have created.
Am am of course speaking of the English (note, this does not include the Scottish, Welsh & Northern Irish. What they to to the English language can best be described as "a full frontal attack").
Although... Do even the English actually know how to properly use the English language?
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7591905.stm
Even Tesco's??? (why am I now thinking "Et Tu Brute?" ;-) )
This was writen as a mail to my foreign girlfriend. She sometimes has a bit of trouble with the complexities of the lovely (if not always practical) English language.
Baby, Darling, Lover...
Sometimes I tell you that you make confusing mistakes in English. Sometimes these lead to misunderstandings between us, which can on occasion lead to arguements, which in turn can sometimes turn nasty (before we realise that its a missunderstanding).
But, when I correct you, I am not trying to tell you that your stupid (when I actually tell you you're stupid, than I am trying to tell you that you're stupid). When I explain to you that the way you said something is very offensive in English, even if you didn't mean it in an offensive way, I'm not accusing you of being callous or spiteful.
You see, English is a very difficult language. Sometimes native English speakers make English mistakes too, really they do! Of course we all know that Americans are a good example of the difficulties of speaking proper English, as they on average make one critical language mistake each word that they pronounce. So compared to them, your English is in fact very good!
Australians have avoided the whole affair by developing such an outrageously strong accent that the rest of the English speaking world cannot understand them at all, and therefore cannot be offended by the gross grammatical and contextual errors that they may (or may not) be making. Certain countries like, for instance, Jamaica, have adopted a very creative approach to dealing with the tremendous difficulties of this complex language. They have introduced making deliberate mistakes as a badge of honour. An individual making these deliberate mistakes shows he is part of a community and that he conforms to its rules. Additionally (/importantly) making these deliberate mistakes also camouflages the abundance of accidental mistakes they make. This method of coping with the traumatising effects of the English language is now known as "being cool".
It is therefore gratifying to know that at least one country in the world has the ability and the drive to do this wonderful language justice. To correctly apply the rules and conventions which they themselves have created.
Am am of course speaking of the English (note, this does not include the Scottish, Welsh & Northern Irish. What they to to the English language can best be described as "a full frontal attack").
Although... Do even the English actually know how to properly use the English language?
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7591905.stm
Even Tesco's??? (why am I now thinking "Et Tu Brute?" ;-) )
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