Top Diaries

And here, it's raining.

And it will continue to rain for days and days, say the forecasts.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 01:28:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The two phenomena are connected. It's a similar weather situation as during the great heatwave of 2007 that hit central and southeastern Europe: there are lows over you and highs over the Ukraine, and as the lows and highs are spinning the opposite way, they carry hot air from the Sahara north between them.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 01:42:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hot hell! (4.00 / 3)

Appears we got the porridge from the middle bear then, temperatures around 20 degrees and mostly sunny. I understand there are those who think 20 degrees is a bit chilly for summer, but here anything above 25 degrees is a heat-wave.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 02:44:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We had a major thunderstorm last night. Rain is predicted today but hasn't happened yet, so maybe another thunderstorm is on the way tonight. Rest of the time it's very hot (except in my office and in the supermarket...)

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 02:01:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hot hell! (4.00 / 5)

We could use some of your excess heat here on the Baltic coast. Especially the water needs it. I am on a farm near the beach and in a very beautiful landscape for the holidays.

by Katrin on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 01:43:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Old memories of two nights on the shore near Bad Doberan (& of the Molli nearby) come up...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 01:51:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I am somewhere else, but they have a historical railway line too. http://www.vvm-museumsbahn.de/ix/ix-start/ix-start.php?env=ss

by Katrin on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 02:06:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Holidays! I suspected that might be where you were.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 03:47:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some mid-thirties here, especially last week, but now we're facing a week or more of much cooler weather and rain - with night temps down as low as 14°C. Meaning we get into tomato/onion/potato blight territory. :(

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 03:26:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ah that sounds really promising for my tour of the Aveyron, starting on Saturday.

I much prefer cloud and the odd thunderstorm to 35° sun, for a week on a bike.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 07:52:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

We're in Colman blight territory here. 12-19C and very wet and humid.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 07:58:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

And nothing is ripening, everything is just growing leaf.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 07:59:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Aluminium foil atop the straw covering the roots. With homes poked.

I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from them Eugene Debs

by redstar on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 08:36:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Umm that would be holes. Not homes. Though I understand some of the latter sell for the price of some of the former in Eire these days...

I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from them Eugene Debs

by redstar on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 08:38:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Rain started again, with 30+ before and after. This is supposed to be good for mushrooms (or bad, if you work at a hospital. Apparently the last time we had similar conditions, over 100 people ended up there).

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 09:05:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hot hell! (4.00 / 3)

We've finally got summer here in Bremen, though we had 6-8 days blue sky and middle 20s in early May. 25C today, when the clouds weren't streaming.

So i do something bad of course.

While i should be focused on resurrecting my work, i went to baseball practice with the Bremen Dockers. I had expected to take it easy, just be able to hold a ball again, make some throws, field some grounders, take some hacks.

Instead i did the full practice, lots of throws, catching a left-handed flame-thrower (the first part of practice when i hadn't seen a thrown ball since 2007, and this kid spit fire), taking infield and dozens of hard grounders w/ the long throw to first... double plays, the works. Not counting being unable to run and bend at the same time, but still made some eye-catching plays.

and then my dream, where i took about 40 hacks in batting practice. Jeez, i can still really drive the ball, regularly. Even while my lungs were calling for a bit more oxygen.

This would likely explain why i'm typing this comment with a bag of frozen peas on my shoulder and arm. Nothing in my hand seems to be broken, perhaps a bit of catcher's finger from that damn young'un. Both legs are still working, as apparently the ticker as well. I"m betting i'll even be able to get up out of this chair.

(But you should have seen those young'uns watch as i sent the BP pitches soaring.)

But for a few hours, i was in heaven.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:25:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

And some of those kids were more than 45 years younger.

PS. It's a Giant bag of peas, and i have been able to get out the chair without the hydraulic lifters.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:37:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm jealous, I'm a few years younger than you and my shoulder's gone and can't throw any more. As for running, the spirit is willing but the knees are weak

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 05:03:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hot hell! (4.00 / 2)

As expected but not acknowledged last night, the body here seems to have the requisite sore- and stiffness levels... though everything's functioning reasonably well. There are some nicely blue colored spots. I doubt the blue finger is broken, though that remains an option.

What did we learn? I experienced a rare joy, at a price i suppose.

But i'm still smiling, even as the frozen peas return.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 06:49:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

...It's just that I'm a fan of the kanun!

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 01:26:24 PM EST

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

steady in the high thirties (c.italy) for 3 weeks now, and no sign of change yet, even in the forecasts.

lots of onions and potatoes harvesting, good crop from both, potatoes nice and creamy textured, onions sweet and bitingly fresh. echinacea plants flowering away surrounded by butterflies, enchanting presence.

i love gardening! working early mornings and evenings, midday and afternoons hammocking in the shade, listening to and playing music, and some blogging :).

two new helpers, one from singapore, one from czech republic, very nice company, intelligent international conversations, mellow vibes in abundance.

a slight uptick in massage work, compared with the last couple of years, (green shoots?)

"It's very hard to see what is kept invisible" Roseanne Barr

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 02:10:38 PM EST

Sigh. I must find an allotment somewhere. More than anything but family, I miss my veggie/flower gardens in the USA.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher

by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 12:50:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

"It's very hard to see what is kept invisible" Roseanne Barr

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 02:16:22 PM EST

Poliça (none / 1)

by cagatacos on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 03:01:01 PM EST

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

The Guardian: Nicolas Sarkozy's home raided by French police (3 July 2012)

A judge in Bordeaux is currently investigating whether Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party benefited from envelopes of cash from the ageing and mentally fragile Bettencourt, during Sarkozy's successful election campaign in 2007. The investigating magistrate is trying to establish whether Sarkozy's campaign might have received euro 800,000 in illegal funding, and whether transfers from Swiss accounts may have been handed over to Sarkozy's campaign treasurer or even to Sarkozy himself.
In February, Eric Woerth, the former French budget minister and treasurer of Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, was placed under judicial investigation over cash he was alleged to have received from the billionaire Bettencourt to fund the 2007 campaign. He denies any wrongdoing.
The investigation is part of the wider Bettencourt saga, which has gripped France for years with plot-twists including a disgruntled butler who hid a tape-recorder in the drawing room, and, crucially, security services at the head of the French state which might have spied on journalists to hush it all up.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 03:23:52 PM EST

Quel dommage.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 03:48:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

EU Observer: German coalition partner threatens government break-up

Horst Seehofer, head of German Chancellor Merkel's junior coalition partner the CSU, has threatened to collapse the government if it makes more concessions to ailing euro-states. "Somewhere down the road a point will be reached ...where the Bavarian government and the CSU cannot say `yes` anymore," he told Stern maga[z]ine.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 03:32:33 PM EST

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Hey, wait now. The CSU is not a junior partner in Merkel's government, it is a junior partner in Merkel's parliament faction. Are they threathening to break up the Union of CDU and CSU? Will this mean that CSU will run candidates outside of Bavaria?

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:09:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 9)

They are barking loudly, showing their voters that they are defending our money from the greedy southerners. And that's all.

by Katrin on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:13:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 7)

I though they were the greedy southerners.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:41:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The CSU's independence ambitions shouldn't be seen as more than serious before they choose Peter Gauweiler as leader. (But if they do, Bavaria might even turn from 16th German state into the 29th EU state.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:45:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 6)

As a monarchy combined with Scotland under Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern, the heir to the Wittelsbachs who is also considered by Jacobites to be the legitimate heir of the House of Stuart? I don't see the point of Scottish independence if we can't get rid of the Windsors as well.....

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:53:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Or Greece can fusion with Bavaria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_I,_King_of_the_Hellenes

by Katrin on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:59:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

For a moment, I thought you mean this Otto (though he's from NRW).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 05:32:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Can you imagine the reaction in Bavaria? Or in Greece: I was once at a conference in Nafplion - when we arrived the place was full of police, as a statue of Otto had been dedicated earlier that day, and the anti-monarchists had arrived to throw eggs at it.

On the other hand, many Germans see Scots as emigre Swabian(housewive)s, and the Scots still haven't forgotten their "Bonnie Prince Charlie".....

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 03:02:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

gk:

if we can't get rid of the Windsors

I think if Her Majesty had to choose, she'd rather be Queen of Scotland than England...

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jul 4th, 2012 at 01:10:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

shouldn't be seen as more than ~~serious~~theatre...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:58:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

DoDo:

before they choose Peter Gauweiler as leader

Any chance of that happening?

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 05:26:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Who knows. Seehofer seemed like a weightless has-been just months before he was made party boss and ~~king~~PM of Bavaria.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 05:35:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The CSU is not a junior partner in Merkel's government, it is a junior partner in Merkel's parliament faction.

The CDU and the CSU are parties to the coalition agreement separately, however, as expressed in the membership of party leaders in the coalition committee, and there are the ministers and the upper house, too. Technically, there are the possibilities of the CSU withdrawing its ministers but remaining in the joint parliamentary faction (unlikely) and Bavaria joining left-leaning state governments in a blockade of federal government laws (not much more likely).

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 04:56:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

But in 2005 when SPD argued that they should get the chancellor because the CDU and CSU were different parties, making SPD the largest party im the grand coalition, my impression was that it was met with a general "don't be ridicolous, you know that is not true". Also coalitions with CDU/CSU+FDP or SPD always are reported as two-party coalitions, not three party coalitions.

So even if they are formally two parties (details of which was interesting), they are in the public discourse seen as one party. So I was a bit perplexed that the journalist had not bothered to show that in the article.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 05:26:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

my impression was that it was met with a general "don't be ridicolous, you know that is not true"

They count themselves as one when needed and separate when needed. When Merkel called Schröder's bluff, it was the first.

they are in the public discourse seen as one party

The CSU has regular fits of independence theatre, enough to have a recognition as separate in public discourse, too. It's a bit schizophrenic. But scan the coalition agreement: the colloquial Union and "CDU/CSU" doesn't feature at all, while the "CDU, CSU und FDP" formulation features in the subtitle and several sections. The CDU and CSU feature jointly in the division of ministerial posts, but as told the coalition committee includes the separate party heads and secretaries alogside the shared faction head and first rapporteur.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 05:50:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

any tips from the geeks?

i can't watch a bunch of videos and it tells me i need adobe flash update, d/loaded it and now my mac says it doesn't recognise the file. have repaired permissions.

grrr

"It's very hard to see what is kept invisible" Roseanne Barr

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Jul 3rd, 2012 at 07:22:36 PM EST