fainestselection | Blog

Mac - Annoying changes

2009-09-22T10:56:00.004+01:00

Recently, when switching between applications, I discovered that something annoying happens.

before

after

Maybe it is my old computer, which makes it even more visible to the eye. Because I see a strange change between the colours in the background, which catches my attention immediately. Does anybody know if it has been always like that? Maybe I just rearranged my windows so it became visible.

Library

2009-09-21T17:14:00.004+01:00

Next to the VHS (adult education centre) next to where I live is a library as well. So today, after enrolling for my second semester of the French course, I thought I’m going to check it out. And I almost got lost! Oh dear! It’s not big, but it has enough interesting stuff. Also plenty of music CD’s from Spice Girls to Björk, classical, jazz. So I ended up taking more than I wanted. When I go to the main library at Urban Loritz Platz, I’m never taking more than one or two items. It seems they have too much or the things I want I cannot find or it is not there. I used to go to the library very often, when I was living in Uxbridge (UK) and would take four books at least. I haven't been to the library in over a year. I just rediscovered it recently. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Yesterday at the rehearsal for Tanz die Toleranz Josef used music for the warm-up and I had more space (front or second row FTW!). Also we made two groups, which always helps! The piece comes slowly together. But it is still a long way until perfection. Oh dear! And the music! You cannot really count it and I don’t know it very well so I don’t have any feeling for it either. We’ve still got four weeks to go.

Surge of emotion

2009-09-19T16:25:00.004+01:00

That's what I felt on the way to the rehearsal for Tanz die Toleranz. It somehow got triggered by people looking at me. It was not good, but it wasn't bad either. It was beyond words.
Then I met people from the group and we went to the studio. And it was crowded, I wasn't able to dance. There was no way of concentrating on the movement, the body, my breathing. It was better after lunch. But ... it's complicated.
Maybe yesterday was too much. Three exciting things happening on one day are hard to handle! I hope I can elaborate on the past and the future and the present - in that order - some other time. My plan is to update more often.

Big City - New York

2009-05-31T18:12:00.005+01:00

When I went to the Big City exhibition at the Wien Museum, I noticed, that I haven't uploaded most of my New York pictures yet. I Made them one year ago on 1 June and 2 June 2008, at the end of the Trek America trip. It is not really street photography as seen at the museum, but it is about the Big Apple.

Queuing is difficult

2009-04-24T17:21:00.002+01:00

Left: How I often experienced it in the UK (once even at an ATM!!!) or on airports (not VIE).
Right: Austria.
I hate Austria when it comes to proper queuing :-)

hello world

2008-09-26T16:30:00.003+01:00

That’s what you get, when you don’t have a permanent internet connection on your beloved machine:

Left before I marked the TUAW posts as read, right after.

I’ve been working pretty hard the last two weeks. At least for my taste. Yesterday we had a bit of a problem, then the adrenaline is kicking in. And if you have a problem with files, that are already printing on the BIG BIG machine, then it’s expensive. It was hard to recognize beforehand (if you don’t know what you’re looking for), but I hope, now we know and something like that might not happen again. Woah that’s cryptic, ey?
But luckily it’s Friday and I can calm down and rest a bit. Well well, election day on Sunday. Interesting Formula 1 race as well. And some awesome pieces of music yesterday btw:

Sergej Wassiljewitsch Rachmaninow: Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 2 c - Moll, op. 18
Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowskij: "Der Sturm". Phantasie nach William Shakespeare, op. 18
Igor Strawinsky: Suite aus dem Ballett "Der Feuervogel"; Fassung 1919

Yes, at the Musikverein, not at the Konzerthaus, as I assumed. Pah! But as it happened in Vienna it was easy to get from the one place to the other. Don’t even think about that happening in London! :)

Keep it down

2008-07-31T17:49:00.004+01:00

I’m back! And what a journey. I alone had 9 kg overweight on my checked bag, which is equal to 63 pounds less money in my pocket. I had to check one of my 2.5 hand luggage bags as well, which was oddly enough for free. In order to do that I had to repack on the airport and I had to wear one of my pretty warm coats, so I can take it with me. Thank you for air conditioning! (My toes seem to be in my way recently, outch.) In Vienna on my way to the train, some odd guy asked me where I got the suitcase from and how much it was. Mumbling like crazy and talking essentially zero content, it was a very dry conversation. And being on the feet since 10 hours didn’t help. My muscles were very weak, but don’t you dare think that somebody would help you! Muahahaha. Funny. NOT AT ALL. Rather complaining, why everything’s going so slowly. Ah people, you must love them. *Shudders*
Right now I am trying to avoid unpacking and just cleaned the other table in my room of stuff, which is not mine, in order to set up my computer. But I can’t find the other monitor and maybe it is useless anyway, as I already could move in in Vienna on Monday or Tuesday (theoretically).
I won’t get jobseeker’s allowance, because I am 16 workdays short to be entitled. But there’s something else, and if you get this other thing you have to go to the basement. I imagine that there are sitting the mean guys and upstairs are the nice ladies, who will only advise you if you get jobseeker’s allowance. I am really counting on those interviews next week. Fingers crossed!
Oh, and is it possible to get keyboards with an english layout in Austria?
Update: Yes, for Apple keyboards, this is the case. Hmmm....

This one is from my mobile phone again. No postprocessing this time.
Maybe it could’ve used some, but I’m lazy.

To quickly kill some time

2008-07-14T22:11:00.005+01:00

What do you do if you need the computer from your boyfriend, who isn’t home right now, and you don’t have an account on said laptop? You write a blog entry, containing a few updates and why you need that thing so desperately.
As I mentioned earlier, my family is here. My dad just took one 2 GB memory card with him, which was a mistake. So I have it now to get those pics off and burn it on DVD afterwards (use number 2). My computer doesn’t really like that SD card. While Windows only reads half of it, Mac doesn’t like it AT ALL. So that’s where use number 1 comes in. I need the Intel based Mac machine to get at least half of the pictures from that card. It is 12 minutes past 10. I am tired, because we went around London all day and I’m cold (have I mentioned that it is July?).
I took some awesome pictures of squirrels today, with said camera and I was keen on uploading a few. We fed them some chips in Greenwich Park and tried to ignore the fat pigeons. So that was fun! I don’t like my digital camera anymore, that’s why there won’t be much pics to post (camera phone pics anyone?). I’ll do my best to pimp the camera phone pics somehow. Since America I don’t like my own camera anymore. So I need a job quickly, to allow myself a new camera.
I’m pulling the pics from my mobile phone and I’ll post a taster of those squirrels.

It’s impossible to pimp those pics!

Jeux d'enfants (Love me if you dare)

2008-07-09T15:22:00.002+01:00

What a strange (french) movie! Especially if it seems that there are voices (laughing?) in the background. I really didn't quite like it. No. Maybe it would be better to see it in the original (I saw it in German). What a bummer!

Jeux d'enfants on imdb

The unbearable lightness of being unemployed

2008-07-09T10:42:00.004+01:00

As the weather is not inviting at all to do ... stuff, I might as well write another rant about my situation here. I got a few invitations for interviews in Austria waiting for me. And I am so grateful, one can’t imagine! It really seems a slightly bit easier to get work after a few years of experience in your pocket. It might sound presumptuous, but maybe the UK thing did help as well. But I won’t wait until the money really comes in to get a nice flat in Vienna. This task might be a bit harder though, with us still being abroad. Those estate agents with their commission are not making it easier! I hate you! I won’t pay three monthly rents just because of your smart dress. There were voices out there to change that, and there did actually happen something but nothing big, because they are all complaining. Oh, come on!
What else? I am waiting for a few pounds from the UK (tax refund), the council (Council Tax) and the water company (thanks again for non-metered water!).
My family (parents and sister) is coming on Friday. We will explore London and hopefully Brighton. I haven’t been to Greenwich yet. So please! Rain! GO AWAY!
On Saturday is The Big Dance 2008 on Trafalgar Square. If you are in London either come and see or come and dance! There are still around 400 places left. I would’ve liked to do more during this event, but the weather was oh so disgusting. I guess we’ll have to turn on the heating again. I much rather spend the day in bed, sleeping. Brrrr.
Ah and for the record! Our flight home is on the 30 July. I am planning to be in Vienna the week after (4 August), to do a few interviews and hopefully look at a few flats as well. I am afraid it is time for me to get a Wiener Linien annual travelcard. Ah the fun of a new beginning! No! Honestly! I like it.

Let’s have some tea for my cold toes.

QuarkXPress 8.0

2008-07-05T16:51:00.005+01:00

I recently discovered an entry about the new QuarkXPress 8.0 (via Michael Preidel). But I am really bad with reading all that interesting stuff I stumble upon. There are PLENTY of folders in my bookmarks toolbar, which are called Things to read, to read or similar. But with my aim to use Firefox instead of Safari, it is a bit easier, because I just keep those tabs open until they annoy me that much, that I have to read it, or forget about it.
So. QuarkXPress 8.0. The big news:

There are now single-letter key commands for Tools in the Tool Palette.

Wow! What a winner! InDesign has that since, at least version 2, I think and is currently available as version 5.
OK, to be fair here. I worked with QuarkXPress 6, which basically is just useless. The 7 version got so much better, so I guess 8 adds the few things users asked for after 7. But I so much hope that I never have to work with that tool again, at least not that intense as I did the last six months.

Erykah Badu, 30/06/08, Brixton Academy, London

2008-07-02T15:17:00.004+01:00

We had to wait for hours, but it was definitely worth it! At the beginning we were so far at the back, that I didn't believe that it is really her. I really got even more short-sited after those six months of work. Moved a little to the front behind a tall guy, where nobody dared to stand. That was better. But no pictures, at least not from me. But I found a set on flickr. They aren't that bad, but ISO 1600 shows if you look at the bigger versions. Ouch. But you did a good job man! Don't be afraid!

Originally uploaded by PaulJay

Hello party people, it's me again

2008-06-16T12:13:00.006+01:00

Oh yes, it's been a while and so much happened! Oh my!
Ah short, really short recap about the US of A. I post the route and the activities we did, if I can remember correctly.

22/05
arrival on JFK
cab to Secaucus, New Jersey
stay at the Holiday Inn

23/05
gulp down the breakfast
meet J (our awesome tour guide/driver/papa J)
drive to Lake Placid, New York
visit the Lake Placid Olympic Center
set camp

24/05
mini golf
canoeing

25/05
left campground no 1 (Rollins Pond)
drive to Vermont
ferry over Lake Champlain
first WalMart visit
Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory visit
set camp (Smugglers Notch)
small hike to Sterling Pond

26/05
left campground no2
Montpelier, Vermont (capital of Vermont)
small parade (Memorial Day)
set camp (Lafayette Place Campground,New Hampshire)
aerial tramway up Cannon Mountain

27/05
BIG hike, my personal Dakar (but after reading Race to Dakar, that hike was nothing compared to the Dakar), Franconia Ridge

28/05
left campground no 3
drive to Acadia National Park
WalMart no 2 (incl iPod, Dunkin Donuts)
set camp (Bar Harbour, Maine, Baaaa Haaaaabaaaa)
sunset sail
lobster bake (minus the lobster for me)

29/05
up at 4 to watch the sunrise
pancake breakfast
sea kayaking
small walk near the coast
mini golf

30/05
left campground no 4
drive to Cape Cod, Massachusetts
set camp (Dune's Edge)

31/05
Provincetown, Massachusetts
whale watching
trying hard and taking medicine against the urge to throw up (boat trip to the whales)

01/06
left campground no 5
drive to New York City, New York
drop luggage at JFK
made a few stops at PoI (Places of Interest), such as Time Square, Wall Street ...
back to Holiday Inn in Secaucus, New Jersey
goodbye J!

02/06
with bus to New York City, New York
Empire State Building
Apple Store, 767 Fifth Avenue
Central Park
subway, airport train to JFK

03/06
arrival on VIE

And on 18 June we go for another 10 days trip around Scotland.
18/06-22/06 Edinburgh
22/06-25/06 Inverness
25/06-28/06 Glasgow

So far so good! Have a nice one. I hopefully will be done with uploading the Trek America pictures by the end of July : )

NYC, 34th Street

2008-06-07T19:54:00.003+01:00

34th St
Originally uploaded by .·˙ƒain˙·.

The first 59 pictures of the USA tour are online now! I hope I will write a long report about it (including all the activities!). I will post the rest of the pictures in the course of the following seven days. The set

It’s gonna happen, man

2008-05-12T20:06:00.005+01:00

Yes. Got the tickets, the voucher, tha monies. But still loads to do. I hope I won’t forget anything. But doing something like that for the first time ... When I went on a holiday for two weeks for the first time, I took to many clothes with me. Next time my suitcase was more like half empty then too full.
Good. Went to Regent's Park. I love it, I simply love it and I hope we’ll visit it more often in the summer.
So, now, the itinerary for the next few weeks:
18/05/08 LTN-VIE
22/05/08 VIE-JFK
02/06/08 JFK-VIE (arriving on 03/06/08)
05/06/08 VIE-LTN
And then on the 30 July we’ll fly home. And then there is the usual again. Job-hunting, solving the living situation and so on. But before that I’ll have a two months holiday! The family is visiting and I’ll have to make a nice plan where to go.
We watched Persepolis (Tickets in London are utterly expensive!) on the weekend and though it is an animation, I felt like being in Vienna (it is also set in Vienna, yes) again. Hmmmm, I’m really looking forward to it and everybody there and around it, near it ...

Votivkirche, May 2007 (analogue SLR)

The Tour-Beetle

2008-04-21T20:04:00.003+01:00

First this and now the Beetle, in which I toured around Austria gets sold as well :( But I really will not be able to use them more frequently. A car in Vienna is quite useless really.

Counting the days

2008-04-20T21:05:00.004+01:00

I love lists and countdowns and planning and all that other stuff connected to it. So yet again (Oh dear! I didn’t even notice, that the title is the same!) I will have to make all that counting of dem months and weeks and days ...

4 weeks until we will be back in Austria for a few days
4 weeks left, where I have to be in the rat race (work)
4 weeks and 1 day until I have my hair as pictured above (Yessss!)
in 5 weeks we’ll be on a different continent for the first time in my life (at least I reckon it’s still happening)
8 weeks and 2 days until seein Trouble over Tokyo live
10 weeks and one day until seeing Erykah Badu
12 weeks and 4 days until seeing Death Cab for Cutie again

There is still some planning to do for June and July, because I want to have a closer look at a few cities in the country (Scotland!!!).

Juggling rings

2008-04-20T19:17:00.004+01:00

I still have to practice a lot, but it is a start. I bought them yesterday, shortly before we stumbled upon the International Beatboxing Convention. Find a video and pictures on my flickr account.

I picked up the rings, you can see in the video above, from Camden Lock Market and I was quite struck by the sight of Stables Market, especially the part pictured above. We've been there with D. and S. in late December, shopping for clothes. Now I think of all the people who suddenly lost their jobs and shops and else ... The mind is a strange thing, which is filled by the media unless you go there yourself and see with your own eyes what changed.

Grow up!

2008-04-18T21:48:00.004+01:00

They are planning yet another strike! The London Underground that is. Come on guys! GROW UP! The people you hurt, are the people who rely on you and cannot get to work without getting up at 5 in the morning! I hope they call it off again. I have only four weeks to go. Please let them be without a strike! (And I want to get to the airport without any hassle as well!)

via Tube strike threatened. Again. | London Metblogs

BUT! Good news! I learned to juggle rings yesterday! Yessss! I will get me some tomorrow so I can practice in the garden a bit (If it is not raining all weekend, yes, then I REALLY COULD do that! What is it with this clouds, that they always come on Friday and go on Tuesday morning as soon as I am in the office? HA?!!?) In the meantime the Pound is rising against the Euro, which is good, as I earn Pounds right now. I wish it is highest by the end of July, when I move my money back : )

Grand Union Canal

2008-04-06T12:17:00.002+01:00

Grand Union Canal
Originally uploaded by .·˙ƒain˙·.

It snowed today!!!!! Wow! I was woken up by the screaming kids and when I sat up I was astonished! I could even see it without my glasses on :) Check out the rest of the pictures on flickr.

Closer

2008-04-05T21:56:00.002+01:00

The Atlantic was born today and I’ll tell you how...
The clouds above opened up and let it out.

I was standing on the surface of a perforated sphere
When the water filled every hole
And thousands upon thousands made an ocean
Making islands where no island should go
Oh no

Those people were overjoyed; they took to their boats
I thought it less like a lake and more like a moat
The rhythm of my footsteps crossing flatlands to your door have been silenced forever more
The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
It seems farther than ever before
Oh no

I need you so much closer

I need you so much closer
So come on, come on

Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism

Long time no read

2008-04-04T19:57:00.006+01:00

Ah! Where to start? I finished another one of those work intense weeks and there are still six remaining. It is really hard for me to get up in the morning. Amid some dream the alarm clock goes off and I think “Oh no, it’s that kind of day again!”. It feels like sliding from a sweet dream off to a nightmare. (Ok, maybe I exaggerate ...) All in all the week was not too bad and I am feeling pretty well today. I took a picture of someone else’s bogue (n. The expanse of skin that appears between the top of your socks and the bottom of your trousers when you sit down. from Douglas Adams & John Lloyd The Deeper Meaning of Liff), sorry, I just couldn’t resist!
Yesterday we watched the awesome, hillarious, important and strongly recommended Shaun of the Dead, in which all the usual suspects from British TV and/or film are seen (at least I’m claiming that). What else? Yeah, The Creation will be performed from scratch and I really, rilly (sic!) would like to attend, but it’s a Sunday and it seems that I wouldn’t be able to make my way home by public transport. Maybe I’ll ask at the choir, if somebody’s driving up there. Our flight home is booked (LTN-VIE 30/07/08).

My sweetheart/sis/Schwesterherz and me at the Donau not far from my parents’ house (da hometown, more or less). Photograph by nungee

I bought a medium format camera via ebay (I ebayed it? ;), but I asked them to send it to Austria. I trust the Austrian mail a tiny little bit more than the British. The weather is good, as long as I’m working, the coming weekend doesn’t look that grand, it won’t be as warm as today. In the meantime we’re desperately awaiting the vouchers for the American trip (at least I am). Yes, I think that pretty much covers all. Hmmmm, did we do some experimental cooking in the last few weeks? Nah, don’t think so. We made a nice Tiramisu again, with real sponge fingers (Biskotten) this time. Oh dear! I could take a bath in it! ;) We didn’t even use rum and it still tasted awesome! (Orders in the comments please.)

So long and thanks for all the fish! (Video)

As stated, Karla and I are working on the same things, just different formats. She’s Mac, I’m Windows.
“Entirely appropriate,” Karla, “because Windows is more male, and Mac is more female.”
I felt defensive. “How so?”
“Well, Windows is nonintuitive ... counterintuitive, sometimes. but it’s so MALE so just go buy a Windows PC system and wast a bunch of time learning bogus commands and reading a thousand dialog boxes every time you want to change a point size or whatever ... MEN are just used to sitting there, taking orders, executing needless commands, and feeling like they got such a good deal because they saved $200. WOMEN crave efficiency, elegance ... the Mac lets them move within their digital universe exactly as they’d like, without cluttering up their human memory banks. I think the reason why so many women used to feel like they didn’t “understand computers” was because PCs are so brain-dead ... the Macintosh is responsible for upping not only the earning potential of women but also the feeling of mastering technology, which they got told is impossible for them. I was always told that.”

From: Douglas Coupland Microserfs (1995)

Reggie Watts

2008-03-22T21:11:00.001+01:00

I tell you guys, watch the videos on his page! Unbelievably awesome! : ) Bauchklang and so much more in one guy! “He is the only American possessing full vocal range (ten octaves of tone plus 300 distinct vocal styles).” I REALLY would like to see him live, but I guess that ain’t gonna happen ...

Reggie Watts

The end of an era ...

2008-03-21T15:39:00.003+01:00

... and my childhood (at last).

For my German speaking readers ...

2008-03-21T14:19:00.003+01:00

... some little note on my German blog.

Bureaucracy

E. and J. came for a few days over the last weekend. On Saturday we watched the oh so awesome hip hop theatre Into the Hoods. As I hurt my foot last week on Thursday, it was really difficult to watch, but I was on the edge of my seat for the whole of it. Nice movements. Aaaaah! We enjoyed London, though freezing like never before, it seemed. On Tuesday I had to get back to work. Still eight weeks to go. 32 days. I do not want to know how many hours that would be (no do not even THINK about writing it in the comments!). Yesterday I got myself a medium format camera on ebay. Looking forward to that. And I am still waiting for the vouchers for the trip at the end of May. Having an insured foot sucks! W. might be able to write an opera about that I guess. :/

Oh! There is a spar in the UK!