Feeling Young??

Why is it once you hit 30, so many other people over 30(older than you), want to tell you that you are getting old? I mean really 30 even 40 is not that old! I can't tell you how many times people have told me that that I'm getting old. I might say my leg hurts today. Then someone says, "oh, you're getting old.." Well, no. I was kicked last night playing soccer. I mean, if you start saying you're old at 30, what are you going to say when you're 60?!? All that's left is, "I'm dead?" Boy I hope there is more to life than that.

I play a lot of soccer. One of the groups that I play pick up with has a number of older guys. Last night I was talking with one of the guys and he told me he was 64! I couldn't believe it. I hope I am still out there and able to play at 64!

Anyway, I am a big believer that a lot of how old you feel is your head. If you start believing that you are old, you will feel old. I don't mean be stupid and try to do all the same things you did at 20 when you're 40. The good thing about getting older is wisdom should come with age.

I recently found a site called realage.com. They have an age test that is supposed to give you an idea about what your real age is by using information from your lifestyle. Take it with a grain of salt. Mine was pretty accurate until the questions came about business, and the stress of starting a business. My "real age" suddenly jumped 10 years older than I really am! To take the test click the orange button "Take The RealAge Test". Check it out:

The RealAge Test

Team T Dance Routine - Technophonic Minnie Draughter

Check out our moves!

Technophonic Minnie Draughter

I really can't decide if I like this commercial or not. It's kinda disturbing....

Das Bayerische Reinheitsgebot vom 23. April 1516 -- Bavarian Purity Law from April 23, 1516

How beer is to be brewed and poured out across the land:

[...]We decree, establish and ordain at the behest of the Lords of Bavaria that henceforth in all the land, in the countryside as well as our towns and marketplaces, there is no other policy than this: From Michaelmas until the Feast of St George, one mug(1) or 'head'(2) of beer will not be sold for more than one Munich penny; and from the Feast of St George until Michaelmas, a mug will not be sold for more than two pennies of the same reckoning, and a head for no more than three heller(3), under pain of penalty. But when one brews any beer (other than Marzenbier), it will under no circumstances be poured or sold for more than one penny per mug. Further we decree that henceforth in all our towns, marketplaces and the whole of the countryside, no beer shall contain or be brewed with more ingredients than grain, hops, and water. He who knowingly violates these laws will be summarily fined a keg of beer, each time it happens[...].

(1)Mug = (Bavarian) 1.069 Liters

(2)Head = round container for fluids, containing slightly less than one Bavarian 'mug'

(3)Heller = Munich half-penny

-------------------------------------

Übersetzung der Originalfassung:

Wie das Bier im Sommer und Winter auf dem Land ausgeschenkt und gebraut werden soll:

[...]Wir verordnen, setzen und wollen mit dem Rat unserer Landwirtschaft, dass forthin ueberall im Fuerstentum Bayern sowohl auf dem Lande wie auch in unseren Staedten und Maerkten, die keine besondere Ordnung dafür haben, von Michaeli bis Georgi eine Maß (1) oder ein Kopf (2) Bier fuer nicht mehr als einen Pfennig Muenchener Waehrung und von Georgi bis Michaeli die Maß fuer nicht mehr als zwei Pfennig derselben Waehrung, der Kopf für nicht mehr als drei Heller (3) bei Androhung unten angeführter Strafe gegeben und ausgeschenkt werden soll. Wo aber einer nicht Maerzen, sondern anderes Bier brauen oder sonst wie haben wuerde, soll er es keineswegs hoeher als um einen Pfennig die Maß ausschenken und verkaufen. Ganz besonders wollen wir, dass forthin allenthalben in unseren Staedten, Maerkten und auf dem Lande zu keinem Bier mehr Stuecke als allein Gersten, Hopfen und Wasser verwendet und gebraucht werden sollen. Wer diese unsere Androhung wissentlich uebertritt und nicht einhaelt, dem soll von seiner Gerichtsobrigkeit zur Strafe dieses Fass Bier, so oft es vorkommt, unnachsichtlich weggenommen werden.[...]

(1)bayerische Maß= 1,069 Liter
(2)halbkugelfoermiges Geschirr fuer Fluessigkeiten; nicht ganz eine Maß
(3)gewoehnlich ein halber Pfennig

Augustiner Bier

I was trying to find a place I could buy some Augustiner Oktoberfest for this fall and I cam across a site called ratebeer.com. Apparently they don't know much about German beer. They classify Augustiner, which is the oldest brewery in Munich city limits, as a Dortmunder Helles. Which is clearly wrong as first of all it is from Munich. Beer in Germany is very regional and the brewers from Munich and Dortmund would be very offended at such a classification. To make it even worse they call it a "light beer"! Like it's some kind of Coors lite type! I think they need to do some more research. If you can read German here is a great entry from Wikipedia:

Export (Bier)

Rain, rain go away... don't come back another day..

Man I didn't realize how good the weather actually has this summer. The past few days of rain suck!

Congratulations Krisitn and John!!

My youngest sister's all growns up!

German Marketting: Sex can sell anything..

German advertising has always baffled me. I mean I'm not such a prude that freaks out if there is a lot of skin in an advertisement, but I really think the Germans use sex/nudity a bit too much in their advertising. I remember there was a long running ad on TV that featured a naked woman swimming in a lake. Some of the footage was from underwater looking up at her as she swam. Then she climbed out of the water... remember naked. Can you guess what they were selling?? Probably not. Margarine It all makes sense right?

I came across another good one today. It's for a gym. Check it out:

Leo's Sport Club

Own your own English Soccer Team: MyFootballClub

Not to long ago I posted about a book I recently read called Wikinomics. As I said before the book is about how collaboration projects like Wikipedia and many others are changing the face of the internet. However the idea of collaboration is much more widespread and is affecting the business world much more than most of us can even imagine. I came across a new kind of collaboration today, an organization called MyFootballClub.

MyFootballClub is a UK based organization looking to bring the power of collaboration to the world of professional soccer. The group plans to purchase a mid-tier English football club and build it into a Premier Division side in the future. The way it works is people sign up for a subscription that costs £35 (about $70) and the become members. “They (members) will own the club, vote on team selection, decide which players to buy and sell and guide the club up the leagues.”

As a member you can:

• join other members on our private forum
• read exclusive news on the takeover progress
• be the first to find out which club is purchased
• cast crucial votes to shape our club’s future
• be part of a community that will make football history

Bats in my belfry...

Well, not exactly. I was up late last night working on a translation and I realized I still had to put out the trash. I got everything together and put it in the trash can. Then I grabbed the can and the recycle bin. Since I live in a row home there is a passage between me and my neighbor with the jungle (whole other story). So, with can in one hand and bin in the other I step in to the passage, and guess what comes flying straight for me? A bat! And no small bat either. It must have had a wing span of 2 feet! Ok, I exaggerate a little bit. ;) It was at least 8 inches though. Luckily the recycle bin was light enough and I was quick enough to get it up in front of me. The bat spun around and went back into the passage. So I waited. Nothing... Eventually I grabbed a broom and banged it on the wall and it finally flew out. I don't really think it would have done anything to me, but man it scared the crap out of me.

French Teenager Arrested For Posting His Own Translation Of The Latest Harry Potter Book Online.

PARIS (Reuters) - Police arrested a teenager suspected of posting his own translation of the latest Harry Potter novel on the Internet weeks before the official French release, the book's publishers said on Wednesday.

The 16-year-old schoolboy, from the Aix-en-Provence region in southern France, was taken into custody by a police anti-counterfeiting unit and later released, said a spokeswoman for the Gallimard publishing house, which handles the French editions of the novels.

Full Story: Police arrest French teen over Potter translation

Take Border Patrol Into Your Own Hands

I come across some interesting stuff doing rating for Google.

This one is quite funny. Maybe not in the best taste though...

Border Patrol Game

Back in the Game

So, I played last night for the first time since the Keystone Games. I think my knee is doing ok. It was a little bit stiff around my knee this morning, but I don't think it is anything major. I'll just have to try and strengthen it again and not go for any hard tackles for the next few weeks. I think it should be ok then.

The game last night was good too. We won 5-1 and totally controlled the game. That was a nice change after the K-Games. One of the older guys on my team gave me a great compliment too. I've been playing sweeper most of the time and the guy said he thought I was doing a great job. He also said he thinks I play the purest sweeper he's seen in a long time. :)

Wow, who knew Phil Donahue had it in him.

Bill O'Reilly gets his butt kicked by Phil Donahue.

(And who said Fox News is slanted to the right??)

Goal of the Century

I was just doing some work for Google and came across this query. The Goal of the Cetury was chosen via a poll on the FIFA site. Number 1 goes to Diego Maradona (Argentina) 1986 FIFA World Cup vs. England 18,062 votes: 60-meter run from midfield beating Reid, Beardsley, Butcher, Fenwick then the keeper Shilton before tucking it away.



Check out the top ten list on Wikepedia: Goal of the Century

TO ALL THE KIDS: Who Survived the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.


We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't over weight because

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Wikinomics

Seems I have a lot to write about tonight. Just catching up I guess.

I've told a few of you about the book I've been reading. It's called Wikinomics. Sounds a bit dry? Well, it is actually interesting. It's about how collaboration is changing the economy. You may have heard of sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flikr. But probably never heard of things like InnoCentive where major companies around the world are posting projects for real cash. For example:

Rapid Test for Detection of Infection

POSTED: JUL 26, 2007
DEADLINE: OCT 26, 2007
$50,000 USD

Or the Human Genome Project a site where geneticists collaborate. Although the social sites maybe in the sites in the spotlight now, it is much broader movement.

Anyway, I'm going to do a review of the book on my company blog e-Life, I'll probably post it here too, or at least let you know when the review is up. Until then...Check out the site Wikinomics and Here's a link where you can buy the book:



The next book I'm going to read is also pretty heavy, but about German. It's called Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod == Dative is the death of Genetive. It's supposed to be a guide to all the craziness in the German Language. We'll see... Here's an audio version.

Team Discovery tops the Tour de France

I know this post is a bit late and anyone who is interested probably knows, but the Tour de France is over and after everything was shaken out, Team Discovery came out on top.
The managed to get to guys on the podium. Levi Leipheimer took third place and the Spanish rider, Alberto Contador took first. Lot's of people are heralding him as the next Lance Armstrong.
His story is also one of overcoming life threatening situations. He had a brain hemorrhage in his brain while riding and crashed. He now has a metal plate in his head.

Another exciting outcome of this years tour is that for the first time an Australian has made it to the podium. Cadel Evans took second. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!!! ;)

Keystone Games

Last Saturday some guys and I put a team together and played in the Keystone Games over mens 30's tournament. Unfortunately we have really never all played together before. So, it was very difficult to play teams that have been playing together for years. We didn't do that great, but we did end up with another bronze medal.

It wasn't really the best day for me personally. I lost the ring I have been wearing for something like the last 12 years. I have been thinking about getting a new one, though. So, I guess it just made up my mind for me.
That's not so bad compared to what else happened. I injured my knee. It actually started the previous Sunday in the Lititz league. It's over 30 as well. It's not very competitive, but ever since I started playing over 30 I have been worried I would get hurt... This league especially, and not because of hard play. The problem is: I'm on the younger end still, and there are a lot of guys that are older than they think, 20% slower than they used to be and over weight. They are often not in total control. Now, how did I get injured. I was playing sweeper when I cleared the ball and a guy came lunging in to block it... you guessed it he wasn't as quick as he thought. He first knocked me off balance, which was a good thing because I was already falling over when his foot connected with the inside of my right calf. Let me tell you it hurt. Fortunately, I thought it was going to be worse than it was. Since I was already falling my foot wasn't totally planted. He could have broken my leg or blown out my knee or ankle right there. Turns out it was sore down the outside of my leg from the ankle to the knee. I stayed off it for a few days to try and let it heal. Then I had the tournament. It was still a bit tender, but I thought ok. Then in the 3rd game (BTW 15 min halves), I had a really hard tackle. I stoned the guy of course. :) But he really wailed on the ball. I took the ball and then a few steps, my knee felt pretty weird. I've never had knee trouble before though. So, later I went to the doctors that were there for the tournament and the guy said it might be a light tear in the ACL or MCL. Not sure which is which. He guessed that my patella jumped out of track when I had the hard tackle and then back in. Probably because it was week from the first injury. So, now I am taking some time off to let it heal. I really don't want to have knee trouble or an operation or something like that.

Something else that has been bothering my knees recently is my stupid desk. I have this cheap thing from IKEA that has a shelve right about my shines. So, I have to sit with my feet under the chair, hunched over or my feet on the shelf. Not very comfortable at all. But, my sis Gen has designed me a desk to go in my office. woohoo! Now I just have to build it. :( Maybe this weekend. I still need to finish my Biergarten too. Hmm... Priorities.