New York (Extensively)

So, finally, two months late I manage to finish this blog post. Franz = Way Too Busy :( So have fun...

First off, that huge 767 that talk me all over the Atlantic Ocean.
After arrival and spending way too much time filling out forms, answering questions and giving my fingerprints, I was driven to the Chelsea part of Manhattan...

Well, to be honest, my cab looked a bit crappier than that one, but you get the idea ;)

I staid in a very cosy Bed and Breakfast around boarder between Down Town and Mid Town Manhattan...
Just two minutes walk away from that place to get anything from cheesburgers to pancakes, lovely pizzas, Chinese food, basically anything you would like 24/7. And all that while looking at the Empire State Building rising above the city. Lovely, especially after a few beers...


Of course all this was not just for the pure fun of it. A presentation had to be held and a conference attended, all at the (huge/impressive/lovely/...) Columbia University. However only one picture taken on campus shall be revealed to you...
Nevertheless there was some time for sightseeing. So there was Time Square...
And Broadway....
And a trip with the infamous Staten Island Ferry which revealed some nice views of the Manhattan skyline...
Like the Dutch the Americans also have a big dick and...
...apparently are all in all much less conservative than expected.
And after long days of walking around, there is nothing better than having one of the best burgers in the world at the Corner Bistro.
Good Bye New York, I'll be back....

New York (Briefly)

It is absolutely fantastic. Couldn't be much better. More will come when I won't be wasting the time that I could spend with much cooler things than typing blog posts around here. Just a quick picture.... (Double Standard, anyone?)

Leaving Europe

2 more days and the time is finally here. Your fellow writer will be leaving good ol' Europe, flying all over the Atlantic Ocean, just to arrive in The Big Apple early Sunday morning. Excitement about this trip couldn't be any more extreme at this point. But before... Money needs to be changed, cloths need to be packed and, since the stress concerning the trip is not enough on its own, two big parties need to be attended. (I will not even try to get into any work related difficulties involved here...)

So my (equally) fellow readers can expect some fun pictures and maybe a video accompanying the usual extensive reporting.

Surfing Couches and What Not...

Oh there, it's not December yet and still you'll have something new to read (and to look at). So, last weekend there was an Italian/Danish/American invasion going on in my flat. With pure excitement those strangers surfed my couch...

We had a fairly drunk tour through Amsterdam's liquor and beer pubs tasting the most wonderful beverages anyone could ever imagine in a Dutch city... And all while listening to great stories about The Netherlands and the rest of the world.


During the nights that Rumanian Band (Fanfare Ciocarlia) was seen right after some lovely Ethopian food... (How much more international can be on a single weekend?) Well, the band... Amazing... Instead of the usual one more song on stage after the show, they walked in through the entrance, that is normally only used by mortals like me, and played another half an hour while everybody was going mad around them. Again, I need to throw in a picture here, sorry for shitty cellphone camera:


Apart from getting drunk your dear writer showed off his Amsterdam-Sight-Seeing skills and, besides other things, took someone to the probably highest point in the city, Club 11, where the most adorable picture ever taken of anybody was made :)


Next week Vienna will be invaded, then this never-ending journey takes me all the way over the Atlantic Ocean, but not much further ;) Extensive reports will follow, maybe, eventually, who knows...

Work 'n Squatters

So, here we are once again. Life as a member of the graduate society has not proven easy so far. Instead of being relaxed by the lack of obligation to study all the time, everything else around me got so stressful that I can't even imagine how I ever had time to even look at my books...

It's not all that dark of course. Another weekend of pure joy is approaching. Many people will have to be met and pints of Guinness will hopefully make me strong for next week.

Obviously I can't let you, my dear reader, with out some random pictures. So, there is one of me in my office ...
... and me and my colleague explaining interesting stuff to some person at that big bi-annual conference ...

... and a shitty cell phone picture of police trying to get squatters out of a house by using water throwers and a box on the roof ...

... was the box magic ??? nobody knows ...


That's it for now. More to come, maybe in December...

Is there light?

Yes there is! Live around these days has been busy, and boring me has been practising his laziness a lot lately. But this is going to end. (At least for today...)

So where do we start off? A great summer with crowds of Austrians invading the poor author's home was had...



An amusing barbecue was held in Westerpark resulting in a night full of fat food, loads of beer and wine, spiced up with some good old Austrian Schnaps and eventually very bad headaches.

... photos appearing out of nowhere without any memory of them ever being taken ....

What can I say? Stuff just happens I guess...

Also, your dear narrator of these amazing stories finally managed to graduate from University. What a relief...

Don't hope for much more any time soon, though there might be some...

Oh, and... Thanks for nothing, to whoever made these pictures :)

Gaan Booten!

The second sunny weekend this summer is over and was obviously well spent. A boat ride on Amsterdam's canals made a sunny Saturday even nicer... Photos (not done by me) to be shown here...

The vessel has been entered.

El Capitan!

And the Passengers...

Unfortunately no photos of the barbecue in the evening... Maybe some will be added later. (Probably not...)

In back of the real

So there we go, I'm back in Amsterdam. Austria was tragic/fun/lovely... There will be more in depth talk about that when me stupid manages to pull photos on his laptop.

Over here work sucked me up completely. Loads of new things have to be learned and my imaginary todo list is making my mind explode, almost.

Anyway it's good to be back and have someone to miss over there...

City Hopping

Stockholm was simply amazing. One of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen in my life. I walked around the south part a bit, saw the royal palace in the old town and found a trashy record store in some small alley. There wasn't much time since, as previously mentioned, Tallinn called for me...

Apart from groups of policemen on every other corner, the city is very quiet. So far no riots could be observed. Maybe, me spending more time at that conference, being surrounded by geeks, is more or less keeping me from seeing what's actually going on outside?

Anyway, today there was a big party, held by a big Internet search company, you might know them, maybe... Got loads of merchandise from them which will be distributed among Viennese crowds eventually.

Also photos have been made. Though, me stupid, obviously forgot to bring his USB cable to transfer stuff to the laptop and upload it on the mighty Internet. So people reading this have to wait until me arrival in Vienna for fun photos and what not.

Speaking of which, I will arrive in Vienna on the ... Nah, won't tell over here since someone might want to come to the airport to surprise me. Or even wants to pretend, having wanted to be there and ... Ahhh, whatever. This is not the place for personal shit like that anyway.

So see you soon, or maybe better not?

Not to forget:

"Penis mightier than the Sword"

Good Night!

Riots?

Only a few more days before I'll be on my way traveling to Tallinn and what do I have to read in the news today?

"Estonian TV Predicts Uprising on May 9

Estonian Channel 2 has reported that Russian-speaking youth in Estonia to revolt on May 9, Victory Day in Russia. According to the television channel, the youth intend to launch a protest on May 1 and begin a general strike the next day that will turn into a revolt on May 9.
The channel predicted that Estonian authorities could use the army to put down the revolt, which would lead to a sharp react from Russia.

Rioting began in Estonia on the evening of April 27 when the monument to the Soviet Soldier was removed from downtown Tallinn and the exhumation of the Soviet soldiers buried beneath it began. Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo has stated that the monument would be re-erected in Military Cemetery in Tallinn on May 8."

Nice...

[Via kommersant.com]

Barbecue

Here we go, after all some stuff to look at. Whether that's a good thing or not lies in the judgment of the viewer. Have fun!

Our friendly German hosts for the evening

A small subset of the attending guests in an enlightening discussion

:awesome:

And finally for some late night sit-in downstairs while enjoying old Beatles records and whatnot

And back home again...

At least soon, and for some time. But first... Stockholm and Tallin have to be seen, Tickets are booked, just a small thesis wants to be finished first.

Over here everything is going smoothly, most wonderful weather is enjoyed. Still feels like summer. The weekend brought the first barbecue of the year which was delicious, fun and drunk. A few dumb photos might follow in a bit.

Finally I left work early today due to my dentist appointment in the morning and my everlasting (at least for today) pain keeps me from doing anything productive. Well, at least you get to read some stuff...

Talking about ... me?

Pushing in a quick update before the end of March.

I've been rather busy lately. Work wants to be done, thesis wants to be written, house wants to be cleaned... I only want a cold beer.

It's now also official that previously proposed statements will hold true as I happen to just have gotten my very first real job. Starting date, July 6th 2007. Yep, still quiet some time in the future but lots of stuff needs to be finished before that.

Currently I'm struggling with people who should send me to Tallin in May. However (and here comes the wise one for today) as with most things in life, if you really want them you will get them. Except for girls of course, who are as usual the exception and represent the very opposite.

Feels like Summer

Not much else to say. The weather is plain awesome these days. Yesterday, for the first time this year, people would be sitting outside the windmill as opposed to warming themselves inside like they tend to throughout the "winter".

Temperatures today are close to 16 degrees and while it won't be as hot throughout the week there might be a few more nice days to enjoy before April's forerunners hit us with unpleasant rain and cold winds.

So get out, see stuff, have a good time. Me however will be locked in all day... Work.

Talking about self-proclaimed hypocrites...

The other day I found myself walking into a restaurant ordering a Thai fish curry dish. Turned out to be hot as hell burning most of my inner organs. It could have burnt a bit more though, since there is not much use for those other parts anyway...

I'd like to sleep all day. A few days ago an overwhelming tiredness overcame me which is still lasting up to this very minute.

My unhealthy lack of writing may (please) be excused though it is highly unlikely that I will change in this matter.

Thoughts had around the January, 25th seem to hold true. Waking up from everlasting sleep would help escaping this very mess, though equally unlikely.

Someone, send me a post card please, I'm dying to hear from you.

(Or was that dying from hearing from you? Nevermind...)

Depressing

I'm not sure where it comes from but usually on Valentines day I get really depressed. I certainly have no idea why since I could not care less about this day... Oh... Okay, that's why. Mystery solved.

Yesterday a bus broke; Fortunately in the middle of the tram tracks; And even more fortunately in the middle of the tram tracks in front of my house. I had an amusing hour sitting by my window watching angry people not getting home, trams lining up, waiting for that damn bus getting pulled off the tracks. I had a great time.

Apart from that some awesome girl (Thank you sweety!!) gave me Al Bundy's Polk High t-shirt. To be seen in it's full glory above.

Oh and my last chance for a date tonight just went up in flashes this very second... *sigh*

Snow!!!

Finally some snow hit Amsterdam. Well, at least some two days ago. By now everything is gone again but me lazy took his time to get those fancy pictures up.

In the meantime Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah! had to be seen. Very boring gig. At least it was free (as in beer).

And of course the obligatory windmill shot.

Passed

I just received my CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) results. Got a C (translates to a 3 for all those Austrian bastards reading this) with exceptional writing skills. I am now officially able to

• advise on or talk about complex or sensitive issues, understanding colloquial references.
• understand documents, correspondence and reports, including the finer points of complex texts.
• write letters on any subject and full notes of meetings or seminars with good expression and accuracy.

So in the end my 350 euros were well invested and I can now apply for my fancy Imperial College London course on Advanced Computational Methods for Aeronautics, Flow Management and Fluid-Structure Interaction. Yay!

Wanna come to Amsterdam? Prepare to stay!

It becomes more and more apparent to me that I will not leave this city anytime soon. It is just too beautiful, too awesome and too intense to live here. And this is not only what I'm experiencing. Many people I meet were prepared to stay here for a few months, now they have been living here for years. It's almost like if this city would be consciously pulling people in it's ban. Very scary one has to admit...

Kiss Me Where the Sun Won't Shine

Yesterday Jarvis Cocker played in Amsterdam. While it was certainly not Pulp he was also not as boring as on his studio recordings. In fact he made quiet a show and all in all rocked the shit out of Amsterdam's Paradiso.
More photos still have to come, especially some of ones birthday party and of the storm that almost brought and end to this beautiful city last week. Therefore the next post will be a step backwards before we move on as usual.

Lost in the Supermarket

Good day, lads and gents. Amsterdam got me again. Weekend was wild. Swedish girls seem to be, opposed to ones (my) believes, very able to hold their drinks. Some dude wanted me to come with him to his apartment, had to tell him that I'm already in love with another man. And by the time I could not stand up straight anymore some Dutch guy tried to punch me because I spoiled his drink (accidenally, while dancing). Lucky enough he seemed to have been seeing me double which made it rather difficult for him to actually hit me. At that point there was obviously nothing left to do than pack the swedish goddesses on my bike and drive home for a wild orgy... Then I woke up.

Apart from that I'm enjoying the last days of my live as a 23 year old. Let's see if things get better once one turns 24. I doubt it.

That's all it, once more. Next time I'll be getting some pictures for you to look at.

Leaving Home, Going Home

My first and last words from Vienna for this season. I'm at the Vienna airport waiting for my flight to take me back home. Home? Where might that be? I for one, don't know. Very strange feelings are to be had during those last hours, minutes, seconds... Is it the lack of sleep? Should one not dance all night at the Flex before a long trip? Or is it the end of a week-long depression that pretty much drowned this holiday?

Maybe one should complain less. After all one had a good time. Well, with all this money spent it better was a damn good time.

Now Amsterdam is waiting again. Hopefully my home is still there and my bike not stolen. Well, one will see soon... Good Night, Vienna!