The Sixdays of Zurich

The Sixdays of Zurich have a tradition that goes on for ages. This kind of bicycle race is actually quite a big deal all over Central Europe.

The formula is this: You have bicycle races for six nights, each from eight in the evening till two in the morning. The main races are being held by 12 teams with 2 riders each, so you see the teams in about 6 different races each night. The main races are:

L'Américaine / Madison: All teams are on the circuit, one rider each races, the other one rides on ‘standby’. Each ten laps there is a sprint, the whole race lasts 125 laps. Teams change riders on their own discretion. Speeds up to about 60 km/h.

Von sixdays

Team Pursuit: Something like the above, but since the race is shorter it gets much more hectic. Rider changes are more frequent. Speeds up to 70 km/h.

Von sixdays

Derny: Racing behind a pacemaker. Each rider had a pacemaker on a small motorbike (the Derny), and has to tell him how fast he’s able to go. 75 laps, one rider change, and extremely enthralling duels. Speeds up to 80 km/h. The catch is: The bigger (and fatter) the pacemaker is, the easier is the job for the rider.

Von sixdays

Von sixdays

After each night the accounts are being made, and who has the most points after six night wins... Easy, isn’t it?

Not to forget are the fringe events, like the dancing barmaids at the Caipirinha bar...

Von sixdays

Enjoy the pics – and excuse their poor quality, I only had my compact with me and the light was pretty dark.

Happy time

Finally the stress of the past 2 1/2 months is over, and I have 2 weeks to recover. The initial plan was to have 2 weeks vacation on my own and maybe with my brother who planned to go to Africa for a while. But plans can change, and so did this.

First: My brother went yesterday, and not only for a while, but for at least 18 months, probably even 2 years. Read his blog - if you can read in German...

Second, my dear friend Natasha is staying in Germany for three months, and we eventually made plans for her to come over for a couple of days - which happened today! I'm so extremely excited!!!!

Chinese bubbles in space

The Chinese are a very proud race. Actually they're so proud that their pride sometimes stands in their way. This can either end in tears, but that's not what I want to show you. I want to make you laugh.
About a month ago the Chinese sent a couple of Taikonauts (Chinese for astronaut) into space. The Chinese were very proud of that, as it was their second mission where they sent men into space. In fact they were so very proud that they even published a news-story including the detailed dialogue between the Taikonauts - hours before the spaceship even left the ground. Read the AP-story about this.
Now, it seems that this wasn't the only goof in Chinese publicity for this mission. Watch the video below: Right at the beginning - in the first one or two seconds - you can see an air bubble rising from the exit for the Taikonaut. This phenomenom appears again at minutes 5.52, 6.44 and 7.19. I havent't been in space myself yet - and probably never will - but this is the first time I've seen something like this.



I want to make something clear: I don't doubt that the Chinese actually were in space. Several nations are watching the skies, they would have told the Chinese not to tell lies. But to me it seems like the space-walk was re-performed (or pre-performed?) in a water tank. Maybe something happened to the original video - or there wasn't any? Or the Taikonauts never really left their space ship? The last possibility is, that the Chinese have filmed a phenomenon that no-one has ever seen before. Questions and questions... We will probably never know the answer.

Queen & Paul Rodger

I know I’ve been awful quiet for the past few weeks. There are several reasons for this. For one I’ve just been too busy at work – I had an exhibition in Germany for a weekend in September, and then we had our own exhibition for three weekends in our company. So spare time was very limited. For the other reason: I’ve been busy learning HTML and relating stuff. What this means might be pretty clear – think fast! (Sorry for the dig...)
But here I am, back at blogging and photographing!
It’s been almost three weeks now that Queen & Paul Rodgers played their concert in Zurich’s Hallenstadion. And as a big Queen and Bad Company-Fan it was clear for me to get tickets for me and a friend.
The sound was great, the band played lots of old Queen songs (which I still managed to sing along), some songs from Free and Bad Company (Paul’s former bands), and also some songs from the new album The Cosmos Rocks.
Here are some impressions:

Von Queen & Paul Rodgers

Von Queen & Paul Rodgers

Von Queen & Paul Rodgers

Von Queen & Paul Rodgers

Von Queen & Paul Rodgers

Concert video taken in 2005 - Queen rocks with Paul Rodgers:

Concert video taken in 2008 - Queen play Bad Company:

Ugly bloke with one hell of a voice

He was the perfect winner of Britain’s Got Talent-show: Ugly bloke with wry teeth, and a nervous wreck when he has to face a camera. But what a voice!!! There are rumours that Luciano Pavarotti himself has taught him singing like that. Just sit back and look/listen to that:

CERN, LHC and Black Holes - or: What has happened and what has not (yet) happened

Today the CERN launched its largest experiment yet: After 15 year of planning and a 6 billion Euro investment just to build the 'Large Hadron Colider' (LHC) the scientists started two streams of protons. Those two streams are now being accelerated up to almost the speed of light, which will take several weeks. By the time these protons travel at target speed - and everything is still stable in the experiment - the scientists will lead them onto collision course. The aim is to get several protons to collide and produce an effect similar to what the scientists believe happened shortly after the Big Bang. So far, the machine has just been started and is now running on idle. There hasn't been any collision of protons yet.

But there is also a catch: When two protons collide there is a possibility that a black hole appears. Black holes are generally known as fields of immense gravitation, strong enough to suck everything in and crush the atoms of all matter. I've heard stories about black holes that could shrink the earth to the size of a tennis ball - please don't hold me responsible if this is not true. Since the whole process at the CERN experiment is rather abstract and 'normal' humans can't really describe everything I do understand fears about the nearing end of the world.

The CERN guys try to wipe away those concerns - obviously. Tiny little black holes appear everywhere in the universe - some even here on earth. And none of these has ever sucked in the earth because they only last for very short time.

Personally I'm confident on what the CERN guys say. I don't think the earth will disappear with a huge firework in October. If it does, it's been a big show.

Here's some clips and facts I found on the web today.





And this is what happens if something goes wrong on the experiment:

The End of the World

Today is the first day of the end of the world. What makes me think of that? The following event: Today the Nuclear Research Centre in Geneva (CERN) is starting an experiment which results in a tiny little black hole.

Several scientists – namely some that are not working at the CERN – have addressed their conCERNs to the world that this experiment could very easily result in a black hole that could not be controlled and would eventually eat up Geneva, Switzerland and then the rest of the world. Therefore this experiment should not start – according to those scientists.

Now, the CERN is probably the absolute research centre when it comes to nuclear stuff. So if there is a bunch of scientists who can handle this it’s definitely the ones in Geneva. Therefore I don’t have any worries that we will be sucked into that black hole in Geneva this moooaaaaaaaahhhhhrrrgggg!!!

See you tomorrow in the next world.

Work, Photoshop and Germany

The first two weeks are done. Well, almost. I don't have a weekend really, since tomorrow morning our team leaves for Friedrichshafen for an exhibition. But I'll have a day off on Monday. I don't know what I'll do, but photography is definitely an option.
I learned a lot about retouching in Photoshop lately. I bought a bunch of tutorial-DVD's of respected Photoshop professionals, and seeing their workflow actually on screen is by far better than just reading it in magazines and books.
One example is this self-portrait that I just did within half a hour with several layers, masks and filters, and a technique called 'Dodge&Burn' by Calvin Hollywood. It shows the PFlight presenting the latest trend in MTB freestyle-fashion (I mean the beanie, not the glasses...) according to a big Japanese cycling-company.

Coming Home

Deutsch
Ich bin wieder zuhause. Viel verändert hat sich nicht. Die Häuser, die um uns herum gebaut werden, sind etwas weiter in der Fertigstellung, aber sonst ist alles noch wie vorher.

Letzte Woche habe ich noch einen Rundflug zu den Gulf Islands gebucht, mit Harbour Air. Ich war Gast auf einem Post- und Taxiflug nach Salt Spring Island und Maple Bay. Es war ein wunderschöner Morgen mit einem Hauch von Nebel in der Ferne.



Am Freitag besuchte ich mit ET das Vancouver Aquarium im Stanley Park. Mitten im wunderschönen Park gelegen, gibt's nicht nur Fische zu sehen: Diesen Sommer ist eine Langzeit-Ausstellung über Amphibien, und es gibt auch einen Raum mit exotischen Schmetterlingen. Und natürlich haben wir auch das kleine Beluga-Kalb gesehen.



Am Morgen des letzten Tages fuhren wir nach Granville Island. Mir gefiel der überdachte Markt am Besten, und auch der Wasserpark für die Kinder. Am Nachmittag trafen wir Mausi, und zum Dinner trafen wir eine weitere von ET's Freundinnen. Anschliessend genossen wir einen wunderschönen Sonnenuntergang - und einen nicht weniger spektakulären Vollmond über der Lion's Gate Bridge.




Der Abschied von ET und Kanada ist mir erstaunlicherweise weniger schwer gefallen als andere Abschiede. Woran das lag kann ich nicht genau sagen. Normalerweise bin ich derjenige, der sich nach der Heimkehr in der Wohnung einschliesst, das Radio anmacht und dann heulend zusammenbricht. ET hat's am Flughafen ganz schön deftig erwischt, ich bin ehrlich gesagt etwas erschrocken darüber und habe den ganzen Flug über ein wenig ein schlechtes Gewissen gehabt sie wieder alleine ihren Problemen und Herausforderungen zu überlassen. Ich hingegen gehe nächste Woche wieder meiner Arbeit nach, die mir Spass macht.

Mir bleibt im Moment nur noch, mich vollständig von meinem Mörder-Jetlag zu erholen - ja, den spüre ich auch nach 4 Tagen noch - und Euch noch ein paar letzte Bilder zu zeigen. Die kompletten Alben können hier betrachtet werden.

English
Back home again. Not much has changed, though. The houses that are being built around ours got a bit further in the making, but everything else is like it used to be.

Last week I booked a scenic flight to the gulf islands with Harbour Air. Actually I was the guest on a mail run and taxi flight to Salt Spring Island and Maple Bay. It was a great morning, no clouds, and a nice layer of haze in the distance.

Friday ET and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. It's a really nice place, and there's not only fish to see: This summer they have an exhibition about amphibians, also there's a room with lots of exotic butterflies. And of course there's the Beluga Cub which we also saw.

The last day was dedicated to Granville Island. I mostly liked he indoor market, and the children's water park. In the afternoon we met Mausi, and for dinner we met up with another of ET's friends for a nice outdoor dinner and a great sunset - including the rising of the full moon over Lion's Gate Bridge.

For me, leaving ET and Canada wasn't as difficult as it used to be on other leaves. I can't say why this is so. Normally I'm the one locking myself up in my flat after the returning, turning the radio on and then break down and cry. It hit ET quite hard at the airport, and to be honest, I was a bit terrified about that. On the flight back a bad conscience took over about leaving her alone with her problems and challenges to deal with, while next week I will be going back to my work that I love.

What's left with me is a killer-jetlag still 4 days after my returning - and showing you some last pictures. The complete albums can be viewed here.

Victoria

Deutsch

Eigentlich war der Plan ja gewesen, mit Susan und Ray nach Tofino zu fahren und dort zu campen. Einiges hat dann aber dagegen gesprochen und so war schon Anfangs letzter Woche klar, dass wir in der Gegend von Victoria bleiben würden. Genug zu sehen soll es dort auch geben, wurde mir gesagt.

Wie ich in den folgenden vier Tagen herausfand, ist das auch wahr. Ich will deshalb diesmal gar nicht gross Worte verlieren, sondern vor allem die Bilder sprechen lassen. Viel Spass!




















English

Actually the plan was to go camping at Tofino with Susan and Ray. Several things then cropped up and so it was clear by the beginning of last week that we would stay in the Victoria area. There would be plenty to see as they told me.

And as I found out the following days it is very much so. Hence I don’t want to talk too much today and rather let pictures speak.

Rumkommen / Getting around

Die ersten paar Tage habe ich also (üb-)erlebt. An den Verkehr hier muss man sich erst einmal gewöhnen: Vortrittsregeln für Fussgängergelten hier nur, wenn der Autofahrer gut gelaunt ist. Also besser 2x schauen und erst dann loslaufen wenn der Autofahrer wirklich angehalten hat.
Bin am Sonntag in Downtown Vancouver gewesen mit ET. Wir sind durch Gastown spaziert, haben die Dr. Sun Yat-sen Classical Gardens in Chinatown besucht - jedenfalls den Teil wo man keinen Eintritt zahlen muss - und sind danach über Yaletown zur Waterfront bei Coal Harbour gelaufen. Es ist schon seltsam: Da geht man durch eine Kanadische Stadt und fühlt sich fast schon wie in Singapur: Es hat enorm viele Asiaten hier, und nicht nur in Chinatown. Am Coal Harbour habe ich dann nicht schlecht gestaunt: Harbour Air unterhält hier eine Flotte von alten DHC-2 Beavers und DHC-3 Turbine Otters. Also Flugzeuge die bis zu 60 Jahre alt sind. (Noch mehr gestaunt habe ich dann am Abend, als die Nachricht einer abgestürzten Grumman Goose am Fernsehen kam: Ein Flieger aus den 30-ern.)




Montag - BC-Day! British Columbia wird 150 Jahre alt. Der Premier von BC sowie der Premier von Kanada sind in Victoria und gratulieren der Provinz in bester Politiker-Manier zum Geburtstag. Ganz BC hat einen freien Tag, und den nutzen wir um ein wenig zu radeln. Es gibt einen wunderschönen Radweg um den Stanley Park. Der Weg verläuft meist direkt am Ufer, auf der anderen Seite hat man dann den Wald oder die steilen Felsen des Parks. Quizfrage: Wie schafft man ein schweres Fahrrad die steile Strasse zu ET's Zuhause hoch? Richtig: Man schiebt - oder nimmt den Bus. Jeder Bus hier hat einen Fahrradträger vorne am Kühlergrill, der 2 Fahrräder aufnehmen kann und den man gratis nutzen kann. Man muss bloss schnell genug sein, die Räder wieder runterzunehmen bevor der Bus weiterfährt - besonders wenn man die hintere Tür benutzt hat… Abends haben wir dann noch einen kurzen Spaziergang durch die nähere Umgebung gemacht und einen eindrücklichen Sonnenuntergang erlebt.




Grouse Mountain - the Peak of Vancouver! Darauf habe ich mich lange gefreut! Die Aussicht ist wirklich atemberaubend, an klaren Tagen sieht man sogar den Mount Baker im US-Bundesstaat Washington, etwa 110km entfernt. Vom Besucherzentrum aus hat man freien Zugang zu verschiedenen Shows (Lumber-Jack Wettbewerb, Raubvogel-Show, Grizzly-Gehege) und kann den steilen Weg ganz zum Gipfel hoch laufen. Von dort ist die Aussicht noch besser. Wieder im Besucherzentrum haben wir uns die Lumber-Jack Show und die Vogel-Schau angesehen und ein paar hübsche Bilder der fliegenden Vögel gemacht. Nach einer Sessellift-Rundfahrt sind wir mit der Gondel wieder nach unten gefahren und haben noch einen kurzen Blick ins Wolfsgehege geworfen. Zwar haben wir die Wölfe gesehen, allerdings sind die nur faul rumgelegen. Kein Wunder bei schwülen 26°… Die Busfahrt nachhause war ein Erlebnis der besonderen Art: Nach wenigen hundert Metern wurden alle Fahrgäste gebeten auszusteigen, da der Bus Probleme mit den Bremsen habe. Glücklicherweise befindet sich der Capalino-See - Vancouvers Süsswasser-Reservoir - mit dem eindrücklichen Cleveland Damm gleich um die Ecke, so dass wir die 35 Minuten Wartezeit etwas kurzweiliger verbringen konnten. ET konnte ihr Missfallen über die Angelegenheit mit dem Bus allerdings nicht ganz verbergen.




Den Mittwoch habe ich dann vor allem mit Faulenzen und Bildbearbeitung verbracht, und heute habe ich Waschtag. Morgen Freitag geht's dann nach Victoria auf Vancouver Island - mal sehen, was uns da erwartet. Susan und Ray werden uns fahren, das wird bestimmt lustig!

So I survived the first couple of days here. You really have to get used to the traffic here: ROW for pedestrians is only valid when car-drivers are in the mood of the year. So better watch out twice and wait for the car to come to a complete stop before you cross the street.
Went downtown with ET on Sunday. We walked throught Gastown, visited the free part of Dr. Sun Yet-sen Classical Gardens in Chinatown, and then walked via Yaletown to the Waterfront at Coal Harbour. It really irritated me a bit: You visit a Canadian city and feel like you're in Singapore. There's an enormous amount of Asian people around here, and not only in Chinatown. Coal Harbour held another surprise for me: Harbour Air operates a fleet of old DHC-2 Beavers and DHC-3 Turbine Otters. Planes of an age up to 60 years. (The bigger surprise came with the evening-news, as a Grumman Goose had crashed: A plane built in the 1930's.)
Monday - BC-Day! British Columbia turns 150. The premier ministers of BC and Canada came to Victoria and congratulated the province in best politician-manner. BC has its day off and we take a bicycle ride. There's a nice cycling-path around Stanley Park. The path leads mostly directly along the coast, on the other side there's the forest and steep cliffs of the park. Have a guess: How do you get the heavy bicycle back up to the place where ET lives? Right: You push it uphill - or you take the bus. Every bus has a bicycle rack attached to the front , where you can put up to two bicycles for free. Just make sure you get them back off quick enough - especially when you used the back door of the bus... In the evening we took a little night walk in the closer area and saw an impressive sunset.
Grouse Mountain - the Peak of Vancouver! I was particularly looking forward to this one! The view really is breathtaking, on clear days you can even see Mount Baker in Washington State / USA, about 110km away. From the visitors centre there's free access to several shows (lumberjack contest, birds of prey, grizzly bears) and you can take the steep climb to the very top. From up there the view is even better. Back to the visitors centre we went to the lumberjack show and the bird show, where I took a couple of nice pics of the flying birds. After a round-trip with the chair lift we took the cable car back down again and took a glance of the wolves. Yes, the wolves were there, but we only saw them lying around. No wonder, at a humid 26° day... The bus-trip back home was an experience for itself: After a few corners the driver ordered everyone to disembark, because the bus seemed to have a problem with the breaks. Fortunately we were just a few steps away from Lake Capilano - where Vancouver has its fresh water from - and the impressive Cleveland Dam. That made the 35 minutes of waiting a bit easier. Still ET couldn't hide her disapproval about the bus-incident.
I spent Wednesday lazing around and processing my pictures, and today is laundry-day. Tomorrow we'll be off to Vancouver Island - we'll see what awaits us there. Susan and Ray will drive us, so that will be funny!