YES! You heard me! Not long left until Christmas 2009, so why not make a countdown leading up to the big day, in Flash?

Watch this video tutorial for more details:

Here’s the code:

this.onEnterFrame = function(){ var today:Date = new Date();
var currentYear = today.getFullYear();
var currentTime = today.getTime();
var targetDate:Date = new Date(currentYear,11,25);
var targetTime = targetDate.getTime(); var timeLeft = targetTime - currentTime;
var sec = Math.floor(timeLeft/1000); var min = Math.floor(sec/60);
var hours = Math.floor(min/60);
var days = Math.floor(hours/24); sec = String(sec % 60); if(sec.length < 2){ sec = "0" + sec; } min = String(min % 60); if(min.length < 2){ min = "0" + min; } hours = String(hours % 24); if(hours.length < 2){ hours = "0" + hours; } days = String(days); var counter:String = days + ":" + hours + ":" + min + ":" + sec; time_txt.text = counter; }

You can learn to also modify the countdown date at:
http://mytutorialz.isgreat.org/tutorials/extend/flashcountdowntimer.html

Thanks!

Sehr gruselig, ich hab es jetzt auch mal gespielt. Das Google VORNAME braucht-Spiel. Und das kam bei mir raus:

• Thomas braucht
• ein Heft
• ein neues Rad
• den körperlichen Kontakt
• Hilfe
• Training
• den körperlichen Beweis, dass Jesus von den Toten auferstanden ist.
• seinen Mittagsschlaf
• Geld und Alis Frau.
• Kraft- und Ausdauer
• einen richtigen Schluß für seinen Film.
• danach erst einmal einen Schluck aus der Plastikflasche.

Sehr geil, als wäre es das Drehbuch für mein weiteres Leben. Für das tägliche qualvolle Leben auf diesem undankbaren Planeten.

Danke Google, danke.

Ich werd mir jetzt noch einen bingen und danach ins Bett oder nen Strick suchen.

Wenn’s gut werden muss.

Godmorgon!

Mitt humör är verkligen som en bergochdalbana, upp och ner och upp och ner. Det flippar hela tiden och jag påverkas så förbannat och irriterande lätt. Just nu är allt ok. Men efter mässan igår var jag förvirrad och arg för att jag inte kan bestämma mig…

Gårdagens besök på Svenska Mässan i Göteborg var i alla fall givande. Jag pratade med en tjej som går andra året på Industriell Ekonomi i Linköping och hon verkade i alla fall vara väldigt ärlig. Hon sa att det var lite tufft i början och att man måste våga utmana sig själv. Det kanske är just det jag måste göra. Jag är orolig för att jag inte ska klara av det och rädd för att misslyckas och funderar lite på att välja något som jag vet att jag klarar av. Men risken finns nog då att jag blir uttråkad och vill göra något utmanande. Men jag är som sagt osäker på om jag klarar av teknik-/fysikbiten av Industriell Ekonomi och vill inte misslyckas… Och som alla andra vill jag komma rätt från början, inte byta efter ett år!

Sen måste jag komma fram till vilken stad/skola som är “min”, den jag passar på. Jag är lite inne på Chalmers men den skolan känns lite nördig liksom… Sen är jag lite intresserad av Linköping, men jag vet inte om det bara är för att Ellen antagligen ska plugga där. Det är så svårt att välja…

Malice X Pusha = The Reason I started rapping…That is all

Vorweg: Sorry! Ich wollte das nicht! Es tut mir aufrichtig leid! Ich konnte es aber nicht beeinflussen! Ehrlich!!! Sowas hat niemand verdient…

Ja, euer Till Schweiger hat sich “unseren” Baschi gekrallt. Baschi ist ein Casting-Show-Kind und hat damals glücklicherweise – oder sollte ich sagen, dummerweise – die schweizer Super-Star-Show nicht gewonnen. Gewonnen hat der Sack nichtsdestotrotz aber einen Vertrag mit einer grooohooossen Plattenfirma. Okay, Baschi-Schatz hat ca. zwei Songs, die auch mir gefallen. Aber als Mensch ist der Kerl kaum zu ertragen. Alles im Leben von Baschi ist “voll easy” und “so geil”…

Tja, und jetzt hat der Herr Schweiger den Baschi engangiert, damit dieser im neuen Schweiger-Film ein Liedchen trällert. Na bravo! Baschi-Schätzcken ist nun aufgebrochen, Deutschland zu erobern! Ääähh….erst haben wir euch Paola und Kurt Felix geschickt, nun kommt Baschi hinterher… Sorry dafür! Das ist voll nicht “geil” und sowas von “uneasy”!!! Schuldigung!

PS: Guckst du hier, wenn du Baschi und ein bisschen Gotteslästerung hören willst…

Following on the heels of my one week in London, I then spent one week in Berlin!  To go, or not to go, to Berlin, was a last minute decision that I finally made about a week before leaving for London.  In fact, I was still booking tours for Berlin one evening from my London Hotel!

I wonder now how I ever, for one moment, debated not going at all!  Especially with compelling reasons like these:

1. I had the vacation time already scheduled since early this year
2. I have vowed to visit other International places outside of the UK (tho’ I love UK so! )
3. I’ve been learning the German language for about 5 months now
4. I have friends in Germany to meet
5. My favorite Swiss Music Duo, Yello, would be launching their first album in six years and their first concert in nearly 30!
6. My best friend Jonathan bought one ticket to the concert and sold it to me!!

This was my first trip to Berlin, and Germany, so my goal was to get an overview of the sights and hope later to revisit my favorite points of interest in more detail. Yello’s World Premiere Virtual Concert wasn’t until later in the week, so until then I had plenty of time for a number of tours.

I took twice as many pics in Berlin than I did in London, so be warned…this blog may turn into a bit of a picspam! 

Here’s one of my first impressions of Berlin when I went for a walk the first Sunday afternoon near my hotel.

Park - Möllendorffstraße

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took the bulk of my pics during two boat tours of Berlin’s Bridges and Waterways.  Here’s a sampling:

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Berlin Boat Tour

Deutscher Bundestag

German Chancellery, Berlin

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus

Bridge connecting Paul Löbe Haus & Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Haus

Berlin Boat Tour

Bodemuseum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also took a “Hop On-Hop Off” Bus tour and did some wandering on my own as well:

Berlin Wall remains

Berliner Dom

Danziger/Hagenauer Straße, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Wednesday, I ventured out of Berlin and saw some countryside during the 2 hour bus trip to and from beautiful Dresden.

Between Berlin and Dresden

Dresden on the River Elbe

Theaterplatz facing The Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, Dresden

Semperoper, Dresden

Zwinger Palace, Dresden

Detail - Zwinger Palace, Dresden

Between Dresden and Berlin

See more Pics from Dresden, Germany in this photo album on Facebook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I returned from Dresden it was a perfect opportunity to capture some night shots along Berlin’s Tauentzienstraße, which included the mega-store equivalent of London’s Harrods, KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens).

'Berlin' in the middle of the Tauentzienstraße

KaDeWe Store, Berlin

KaDeWe Main Entrance, Berlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Besides boat and bus tours…I also did a fantastic, well-presented 4 hour walking tour.  The tour guide really brought to life Berlin’s history for me.

German Historical Museum, Berlin

Lustgarten, Berlin

Mother with her Dead Son - The Neue Wache (The New Guard House), Berlin

Memorial for the book burnings of 1933, Bebelplatz, Berlin

Quadriga, Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin

Französischer Dom (French Cathedral), Berlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By this time I was suffering from sight-seeing overload and beyond ready to meet up with Yello fans and get excited about the Yello Virtual Concert that night!

Touch Yello World Premiere Virtual Concert, Kino International Berlin

Touch Yello World Premiere Virtual Concert, Kino International Berlin

Yello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank.  Fans of Yello have been fairly resigned to never expect to see a live performance.  But, what a great idea to present a Virtual Concert!!  Yello’s new songs, plus some of their classics, featured in a 50 minute film with awesome graphics set to a concert theatre backdrop!

The evening began with Boris taking a seat in the theatre with the audience while Dieter did introductions and presentations.  We were then treated to live music performances by each of two artists, Heidi Happy and Till Brönner, who are featured on the new Touch Yello album.

Then, it was roll on the Virtual Yello Concert!!! AND…which ended with a ten-minute long standing ovation as Dieter and Boris both took to the stage for final thanks and acknowledgments …SERIOUSLY, I have never seen anything like it!!

For more about just how special the night was for everyone involved, here’s a great written recap of the night or watch the equally great video recap.   Look for me in the background (@ 10:38) talking to my new Yello friends, Jens and Michael!

But that’s not all!  Everyone at the concert was invited to an after-party and it was incredibly cool to see Dieter and Boris hanging out as well with their families!  Fans could continue to approach them for autographs, pics and general chit-chat.  I met up with Boris a second time and quickly snagged Michael off the dance floor to take a pic for me!

Shelley, Boris Blank - Touch Yello Premiere After Party, Kino International Berlin

Boris is all kinds of awesome! 

And many thanks again to Michael for the pic!  Speaking of…here’s an example of just how happy us Yello fans were that night!

Shelley, Michael, Jens - Touch Yello Premiere After Party, Kino International Berlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, the main event has passed and the next couple days were a bit more relaxed pace for me.  I took a short bus tour one afternoon to Potsdam and toured Sanssouci Palace.

Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam

Gardens of Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam

Stairs to Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam

See more Pics from Sanssouci palace in Potsdam, near Berlin in this photo album on Facebook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My final evening in Berlin and as with my last night in London, it was certainly not the least of times to meet NEW friends!  I met Silke (who’s been suffering through my attempts at learning German ) along with her husband and son for a wonderful dinner and plenty of drink!  I was introduced to the Brazilian cocktail, caipirinha, that may well replace my Mojito’s at my next summer party! 

Shelley, Silke - La Mulata Cuban restaurant, Berlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday morning 8 am.

I’m stood waiting with luggage at the bus stop for Tegel airport and my flight home.  I look up…and see… the Fernsehturm Berlin (Television Tower).

Fernsehturm Berlin (Television Tower)

This tower is not a new sight for me.  It has been visible throughout my week in Berlin since day one and quickly became a “Where’s Waldo” in many of my pics.

The tower is a symbol of Berlin and I find it unquestionably perfect that this would inevitably become the very last picture that I took of Berlin.  The final picture to not only wrap up my memories of my week there, but also my wonderful 2-week vacation that started in London.

See more Pics from Berlin, Germany in this photo album on Facebook

(See “One Week in London” Blog)

]]> http://magnumlady.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/thank-donkey-its-friday-2/ Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:45:00 +0000 magnumlady http://magnumlady.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/thank-donkey-its-friday-2/

Thank Donkey it’s Friday, originally uploaded by magnum_lady.

So it’s Friday again. Is it me or does time seem to be whizzing by?

I took my mum to a jumble sale in Sligo this morning, according to the posters all the items were at ‘rock bottom’ prices. So I was a bit surprised when we got there and saw that jumpers were ‘from’ 5 euro each! These are second hand as well….needless to say we had a quick look and left without buying anything.

We went into town instead and had a cuppa and a rock bun in O’Hehirs which was very nice. Then we got a few bits in Tesco and used the self service till. The robotic voice was telling me to ‘Please take my items’ and my mother said ‘Give her a bloody chance!’ I thought it was just me that answered those tills

When I got home to Jono and ‘the Hobbit’ there was a message left from The Irish Daily Mail that just wanted an update about Jono, so I gave them a call and filled them in about all the surgery details. I had already told them the date so they just wanted to know more about it.
This week was the first week in about a month that we haven’t been to Dublin, it made a nice change.

Zaun mit Tor

…. Die Jungs (insgesamt 3) von der Zaunbaufirma waren ziemlich flott: schließlich machen die das ja täglich! Aber mit so wenig Zeit hätte ich überhaupt nicht gerechnet. Um 16:00 waren sie fertig und der Zaun musste nur noch eine Nacht „ruhen“, bis das Tor geöffnet werden durfte.

Mehr hier

Expressen skriver om Ohly och Björklund i agenda igår.

Ohly förstärkte kravet på en folkomröstning om lissabonfördraget, medan Björklund tyckte att de hade mandat att bestämma själva.

Själva debatten/diskussionen var trevlig och med ett sakligt och vänligt klimat, men det jag blir lite upprörd över är kommentarerna på expressen.se:

“Lissabon fördraget lämpar sig inte för folkomröstning helt
enkelt därför att det är för stort, för många sidor. 90 % av
folket skulle slänga den tjocka boken utan att läsa den.
Det är inte frågan om demokrati utan snarare missbruk av
demokrati när folket röstar med hjärtat istället för med
hjärnan. Det är folkvalda, välbetalda politiker och diverse
experter som är mycket lämpligare för att sköta om det.”

Förutom den otroligt irriterande och självidiotförklarande särskrivningen i början av meningen håller inte argumentet. Jag menar; om vi inte ska låta folket bestämma för att man inte tror att folk skulle orka läsa igenom fördraget, då kan de ju inte heller bestämma vilka som ska sitta i riksdagen.

Säg nu inte att det inte är samma sak, för det är det!

Vem orkar då läsa igenom:
* Alla partiprogram
* Alla partivalplattformer
* Båda koalitionsvalplattformer

Sen vill kanske vissa leva ut sin demokratiska rättighet att kryssa.
Då ska man dessutom läsa på om alla som står på listorna, åtminstone till det parti man vill rösta på.

Totalt antal sidor är nog mer i dessa fall.

En fråga som också kan tyckas vara aktuell igen är då EU-omröstningen.
Som Ohly sa: “Den folkomröstningen fick vi inte göra om, för där är regeringen nöjd med resultatet”.

Men borde vi egentligen ha fått rösta, tycker högerfolket på expressens kommentarsfält?
Då var ju alla röstberättigade tydligen tvugna att läsa igenom varenda fördrag och liknande innan man röstade, om man nu ska tro expressens kommentatorsfälts otroligt proffessionella debattörer.

Nä.
Naturligtvis skämtar jag bara. Inför riksdagsvalet arbetar alla partier och medier för att göra skillnaderna mellan partierna synbara för alla, inför eu-valet var informationen lätt att hitta och förstå. Självklart skulle informationen om lissabonfördaget bli lätt att hitta och förstå också.

Jag ser ingen anledning till att inte folkomrösta, speciellt när opinionen enligt alla mätningar (de jag tagit del av) säger att svenska folket VILL folkomrösta.

Man kan dra tillbaka sitt “ja”. Även om det bara skulle bli tillsvidare.

PS. Läs gärna kommentarer här på bloggen. DS.

ablation till: A general term for loose, relatively permeable material, either contained within or accumulated on the surface of a glacier deposited during the downwasting of nearly static glacial ice.

We went to a car boot sale in Yeovil today so I thought I’d show you a few cute things I bought.

This till has  a broken bit on the side at the bottom, but DG pointed it out on the 20p pile, and when we rung it open, it had play money inside! I think it might look cute in photos, so for now it’s a prop. But how could you resist?

Then I found this little bag, made of wood, kind of Japanese style.  I wasn’t struck straight away what to do with it, but I knew I loved it and just had to have it. I think it needs a few fabric flowers to brighten it up, and to cover that little mark on the top.

There seems to be a theme with money today. I found this green metal cash box, and it has the tray inside. I have a larger black one already, but I just think these are cool. This one makes me think of the scouts, maybe the colour and it’s on the small, cute size.

I found a few books for making into envelopes, my favourite is the Van Gogh. I’ve been thinking how good some art envelopes might look.

And finally, I treated myself to a necklace. I thought recently that I’d like a grown up sort of necklace. This was all in a tangle on the table, and the man only wanted 50p. When I got home I had a closer look and it’s silver. How marvelous!

So that’s all my bargains of the day. While DG was fixing up the camper on Saturday, I cut up some of his old pants to experiment with doll making. This is in preparation for a series of workshops I’ll be doing with Hazel at a local day centre. We are going to be making dolls, so I figured I’d better have a go. I’ve been doing my visual homework, and I’m pretty pleased with this doll. She seems to have quite a personality even though she has no face, yet. I just haven’t been brave enough yet! More research required there. She took more stuffing than I expected.

Tomorrow I want to tell you about the market I did last weekend. Totally out of chronological order, I know, but better late than never, right?

von Thilo Reffert

WDR5
19.09.2009
10:05 Uhr

Hello there,

It’s that chirpy girl behind the till, who served you five minutes ago. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a struggle, and after a hard day for you, the last thing you needed was for me to make life just that little bit harder for you. Of course, you were the one who chose the teenage boy who’s slightly slow and didn’t know how to fold a cardigan and then didn’t give you a receipt, or the lass who couldn’t get the till to work properly and eventually had to ask someone for a bar code, or even the one who doesn’t know how to convert grammes to pounds in her head, so you ended up nearly being sold enough bacon to feed butties to the population of Sheffield.

However, now, after telling them that you are displeased with your level of service and using the level of voice you usually reserve for call centres, you feel vindicated. At least when you were young, youngsters respected old people, and we were all educated (not unlike now, where your grandchildren “book their face” on that World Wide Web). You could multiply pounds, shillings, guineas, groats and pence in your head when you were a child, unlike them now. Far too many of them not knowing what they are doing. At least you have shown them you aren’t happy. That’ll show them. Won’t it?

Well, no.

The pointers below are for the customers described above. I have nothing against the many polite, friendly and honest customers I have served over the years. In fact, dealing with a nice person is always great and can make a stressful day into a good one. I love being around people and quite enjoy shop environments on the whole. However, I feel that there are a group of people out there who are used to being mean to shop assistants. This list is for them.

1. Shop Assistants are not stupid. If you don’t expect it, then you would be surprised at just how many qualifications your average shop assistant may have. On the other side of the till, I have worked with various Valedictorians, Graduates, Masters students, PhD students,teachers, army recruits, gifted musicians, bank assistants, artists, engineers, helicopter pilots, and electricians. This is just off the top of my head.
2. It’s not our fault. If we don’t know how to convert imperial measurements into metric, or feel slightly more comfortable with kilometers sometimes. The education system thought that it would be better to use measurements that the rest of the world uses, so it’s not exactly our fault. That’s why conversion can be a bit tricky for us.
3. Stay in line. If you are standing in line, you are a bit frail, I will go and find you a chair. If you forget something, I will go and find it, or ask for someone to find it. If you need help, I will bend over backwards to help and assist. However, pushing to the front, and making out that it is your god given right to do so will not win you friends. If the young people behind you or that nice man in uniform holding a military discount can queue, then so can you. Even if you are late. Even if you are 12 or 72. Even if you have been queueing for a long time. Even if you fought in (or started) both World Wars. To be blunt, I will help you, but it’s not my fault if the queue is too long. If the queue is too long for you, find another one.
4. Shop Loyalty Points are non-neogotiable. It is only the highest of high management who really have say on point cards. If you are slightly under the limit for points (say, if  you get 4 points for £1, you will only get 3 if you spend 92p) I can not voodoo the till to give you the points you should have recieved.
5. Hovering in front of the till for something not in stock will not make certain object appear before your eyes. Under the till, we usually keep keys and till roll. Trust us, we do not hide that special gift you were looking for. Sometimes we may put stock aside, but hiding stuff that people want to buy is  not the general rule. Of course, if you are here to purchase something that, ahem, needs to be kept below the till, then this rule does not apply.
6. Shop Assistants do not control what the store sells. If there is something that you are looking for and we do not stock it, we can usually place an order, or find a way to do it (except if you were asking for a powerdrill in a sock shop). If you are really against something that we sell,such as this,  then please let us know and we will put your opinions forward. However, shouting at a shopworker for something you disagree with, despite us not being able to do anything about it, will not help.
7. Be Nice. Yes, you’re stressed out and tired. So are we, but we can’t clock off for another few hours yet. Yelling won’t make us go any faster. If anything, you might find that the 1p you have is the Euro we have been trying to get rid of for the past hour.

If you there are any other points you wish to discuss, please do. However, do not discuss that this list is somehow unfair. After all, is it only unfair because this makes you feel guilty?

Regards,

Graduatecalling.

POR CILENE GUEDES (cileneg@gmail.com)

Num painel publicitário desses que cobrem os fundos das bancas de jornal topei com uma notícia das boas. O táxi passava rápido, mas quando meu olho raspou a palavra “Galpão”, o pescoço virou, num reflexo, para não perder o resto. Deu pra pescar: Grupo Galpão, Till, Lagoa, Arcos da Lapa, setembro.

Bingo!

'Till'

Traduzindo depois de pesquisar:

A companhia de teatro Galpão, 27 anos de estrada, traz para o Rio neste mês seu novo espetáculo “Till, a saga de um herói torto”. O espetáculo, que bebe da fonte do teatro popupal medieval e foi concebido num processo que envolveu uma série de  consultas aos espectadores, será encenado ao ar livre, em dois dos cenários mais lindos da cidade e de graça. É um desses programas imperdíveis para quem quer arejar suas experiências como espectador de teatro (com o perdão do trocadilho embutido). Ou para quem jamais pisou num teatro e talvez nunca pise.

De 17 até 20, o palco será o Parque dos Patins.
Dias 24 e 25, será a vez dos Arcos da Lapa.

(No blog do elenco, Eduardo Moreira fala também de uma apresentação no dia 27, na Quinta da Boa Vista, mas ela não aparece na agenda do site do grupo)

Tudo de graça.

“Till Eulenspiegel”, de Luís Alberto de Abreu – autor, entre outros de “O Livro de Jó” – é de 1999. É um texto contemporâneo sobre um personagem folcórico germânico da Idade Média. A sinopse promete um desfile de tipos (a começar pelo personagem-título) que bem pode situar a obra como farsa medieval. A circunstância religiosa ainda reforça isso. Mas, na prática, o personagem comunica um tanto de Arlequim, Scapino, Macunaíma, João Grilo… E comunica com atualidade.

O pulo do gato é dar a um texto que bebe do medievo um ambiente fiel ao teatro popular medieval: é na rua e de graça, é aberto a todo tipo de intempérie e humor. A experiência certamente cria uma instabilidade que, imagino, pode ser aproveitada para enriquecer muito o espetáculo.
 
Sobre a rua desafiadora, Eduardo Moreira, integrante do grupo, resume no site do Galpão:  “Ela nos traz desafios de como apresentar o espetáculo para um público amplo e sem restrições de idade, classe social ou formação intelectual. Isso tem reflexos em todos os elementos de criação, como a dramaturgia, a cenografia, os figurinos e a música.”

A direção de “Till” é de Júlio Maciel. Cenário e figurinos são de Márcio Medina. A direção musical, de Ernani Maletta.

Para dar um gostinho, um pedaço da cena do parto, gravada pela platéia:

Pra ler mais sobre teatro medieval:

Teatro Medieval: tudo ao mesmo tempo agora

Duas pequenas jóias do teatro medieval

Teena took some shots of Till to go in some ANU publication. I think the topic was along the lines of  ‘your favourite place at ANU’

I really like the lighting in these shots.

Unfortunately, I don’t think ANU are using any of these images because of the lens flare. It’s such a shame though, it really makes the setting seem all relaxing and dreamy, the kind of place that’s perfect for some serious study.

Update, Till sent me through some more images!

This it the one they ended up using. Such a pretty girl

Så, har ni förstååååtttt!?