Drei Wochen!

Davon 10 Tage in Lübeck!

Jolly Roger
-There are several theories about the origin of this term for the flag of a pirate ship. One theory claims that early French buccaneers flew red flags which they called joli rouge 'pretty red.' The French words were then supposedly corrupted by English seamen into their closest English approximations: jolly roger. Another theory states that the term may have been derived from English roger 'rogue, devil,' which was popular in the 17th century. By adding jolly (a pre-existing English word meaning happy or cheerful), the term would have nicely described the thievery-loving pirates. Several other theories refer to a kingly etymology - either the Tamil title Ali Raja 'king of the sea' which would then have been corrupted much like in the first theory, or named after King Roger II of Sicily (1095-1154 C.E.) who was supposedly the first to fly a pirate flag. Whichever theory is correct, we do know that jolly roger was an already generalized word for a pirate flag during the 17th century, suggesting that it had been around for awhile before then. Currently he most common jolly roger depicted in movies, books, etc... is the skull and cross bones on a black background.

... bereitet mir eine Sache auf der Arbeit.

( Zum Hintergrund: )

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schattenstern posted this link:
Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are (And That's Okay)

In new school Doctor Who fandom, fans are often watching very different shows. Some are watching the "Rose Tyler Show," and are vexed at the continued absence of the lead. Others tuned in late to enjoy the "Martha Jones Show," and were surprised but pleased when their show took over Torchwood for a while. While no one yet seems to be watching the "Donna Noble Show," Dr. Merlin has already observed a large shift among her friends to enjoying the "Ten and Donna Are the New Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant But Could Also Totally Be Karen and Jack From Will and Grace Show," which one can only imagine is hard to fit on the title cards. Still other Who fans have been in the fandom long enough that they're just along for the ride (or else they're still watching the original "Sarah Jane Adventures" and wondering where Harry went).

The only problem I have with this article is that it concentrates on people who watch a show only for a certain character, ship, or element; while that is absolutely not enough for me. It might be what gets me interested in a show for starters, but then I look at all the characters and their interaction, the story, the writing, and I either like it as a whole or ... don't.

So it doesn't make sense to me to discuss new Doctor Who with someone who watches either the "Rose Tyler-" or "Martha Jones Show", because well, it really are completely different shows, both ignoring whole seasons of Doctor Who.
Or wether Jack/Ianto or Jack/Gwen is the only true pairing, because Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys and past!Gwen/Owen are the only ones that are canon. You can't discuss colours with someone who's decided to be blind, can you?

But apart from that there are a couple of really good thoughts in this article. Because recently, especially since the last series of Doctor Who, I wondered how people who in general have the same approach to tv shows like me, can come to such different conclusions.

One friend noticed an ugly pattern in new school Whoniverse, and now watches the "How Did Rusty Screw Up the Racial Subtext This Time? Show." She's not alone. Other friends, and Dr. Merlin herself, have been forced to watch the "No, Seriously, Did You Learn Your Gender Studies in the Boys' Lockeroom? Show" because ignoring it was too hard. Then of course there are the "Your Grasp of Basic Science Makes the Baby Newton Cry Show" and the "Explosions Show," which is a favorite of Mr. Merlin's, no matter what channel it's on, the characters or cast -- if it goes BOOM, he's there. Many networks bank on the continued popularity of the "Scantily-Dressed Women Show," and Forever Knight in fact was launched on CBS with the command that there should be a corpse in lingerie to begin each episode. The "Witty Banter Show" has been declining in popularity lately, but since Dollhouse is coming soon with Joss Whedon at the helm, it's sure to see a recovery.

Yeah. Most Doctor Who fans I know watch the "How Did Rusty Screw Up (In General) This Time? Show". Some are watching the "And That Is Why Martha And Donna Are Better Than Rose Show". I personally are watching the "So Rusty's Not Perfect But In General Doing A Good Job And, Considering That This Is A Show About An Alien Travelling Through Time And Space In A Little Blue Phone Box That's Bigger On The Inside, It's Alright To Put Effect Over Logic Because If Not Here Where Else? And The More People Praise Martha Like She's An Angel From Heaven The More And Often I See How Flawed That Character Is And Get Really Annoyed By Her But Anyway It's About The Doctor Finding And Losing The People He Loves And Going On Adventures With Them And Btw Steven Moffat Pwns Everything Anyway Show". Anyone wondering when I say that apparently that's a completely different show than the whole rest of the world is watching? XD

I once called House M.D. my "safe haven" and blissfully ignored every flaw of this show, which in my eyes was mostly that in its own way it's more unrealistic than any sci-fi show I'm watching, because the snark made me happy. So while in my world the fact that Gregory House always ended up as the winner went into the "unrealistic" or maybe also "bad writing" section and never bothered me again; while someone else, who apparently had met people actually trying to be like House, had a much bigger problem with him being a questionable role model.

When you talk about SGA or NCIS, most people talk about the "Let's Have Fun With Awesome Characters Shows". Rarely you meet someone who is watching the "Alien/Crime Of The Week Show", and if, they usually tell you how much these shows suck and that they can't believe anyone is really watching them.

And just recently I watched the "OMG Look At The Great Possibility For Interpretations And Metaphors Online-Musical", while almost everyone else was either watching the "Joss Whedon Is A God Online-Musical", "This Is Good But Joss Whedon Is NOT A God Online-Musical", or "NPH Is Teh Awesomeness Online-Musical". (I have to admit I definitely saw parts of all these, too.^^;;;)

Not a one of these examples has addressed those friends who watch shows with their slash goggles on, but rest assured that much of Stargate: Atlantis fandom is all about the "John and Rodney Show," while most of Torchwood fandom revolves around the "Jack and Ianto Are Having Hot Monkeysex on Jack's Desk Show." When Dr. Merlin recently rewatched "Star Trek III" with goggles engaged, she was fascinated by the sheer amount of Kirk/Spock that was right there up on the screen, which changed it from "The Saavik and David Movie" to the "OMG, K/S Is So Canon Movie."

Ok, ok, in regards to SGA: guilty as charged. I actually am watching the "McShep Show", or more specific, the "McKay Show". I survived my second favourite character Carson going, Elizabeth leaving, Sam Carter coming AND going, Carson coming back, and the rise and half-arsed fall of three different villain species. I think I would even survive Sheppard leaving. But if McKay goes, they'd really have to come up with something brilliant to keep me watching.^^;;;

And just because it cracked me up *waves at legoline*:

If your friend writes a ten page footnoted essay on how Bela and Ruby are really the most interesting characters on Supernatural, at least read it and think about her ideas before you never speak to her again.

And well, then there's C. I started to watch shows with C when we were in Japan one year ago, namely Heroes, Prison Break, Doctor Who and Moonlight. Now it is not hard to see that C comes from a completely different world than I am; and lately a comment by her about Moonlight almost made my heart stop - she was obviously watching a very different part of the "Mick And Beth Show" than I was, which showed itself when she stated that you could summarize the whole show with the word "Awwww! &hearts.♥" and everything important would be said.
By now it actually confuses me more when she makes a comment that sounds like we actually watched the same thing for once, so different are our perceptions about what is going on on the screen.

earth n. [urth, ûrth]
-Another elemental word that has kept a similar form for a surprisingly long time. Ultimately, earth comes from the prehistoric Indo-European root er- which produced proto-Germanic ertho. From this sprang Old Frisian erthe, Old Saxon ertha Middle Dutch aerde, Old High German erda, Old Norse jordh, Gothic airtha, and Old English eorthe, all meaning along the lines of 'earth, soil, land.' The Old English term is first recorded Beowulf around 725 C.E., and at this point it was already being used to describe the planet as well as the ground. By 1137, Middle English erthe was in use. How it came to be spelled with an a is uncertain, though this spelling was in effect at least by the 16th century. Related terms outside of the Germanic languages are Greek eraze 'on the ground' and Welsh erw 'field.'


Side note:
When I was looking up related words in other languages, I noticed that the Slavic languages' words for earth seemed to have zeme as their root. Can anyone tell me where this comes from?

water, n. [waw-ter, wŏ-tər]
-Seeing as it is such a basic element of life and human civilization, it makes sense that water is a very old word. Old English wæter was in use prior to the turn of the 10th century and has many similarly ancient relatives: Old Saxon watar, Old Frisian wetir, Middle Dutch water, Old High German wazzar, Old Norse vatn, and Gothic wato, 'water.' All these stem from proto-Germanic water, though they broke into two categories - those nouns that developed with an r, like Old English wæter, and those that developed with an n, as Old Norse vatn. Proto-Germanic watar came from the prehistoric Indo-European root wed-, which itself had three off-shoots: wodor, wedor, uder. The first two were retained in Germanic languages. Wodor, after the d sound hardened to a t, was the direct ancestor of proto-Germanic watar. The root in the second branch, wedor, became proto-Germanic wet, which led to Old English wǣt and English wet. Finally, uder was the basis for early Greek hud-or 'water' and the basis for the the prefix hydro. Other creations from this prehistoric Indo-European root are Hittite watar, Sanskrit udnah, Old Church Slavonic voda, Lithuanian vanduo, Old Prussian wundan, Gaelic uisge 'water,' and Latin unda 'wave.'


Side note:
To the member who requested two shakes of a stick, unfortunately I could not find much on it. It seems to be a variant of two shakes of a lamb's tail which was used to describe something happening very quickly since a lamb can apparently shake its tail twice in the blink of an eye. This latter phrase's origin was unclear as well, though I found a mid-19th century citation of it. Exactly when and where it came from, however, I could not find out. If anyone can help us out, it would be much appreciated!

beat around the bush
-As an expression, this phrase has been in use at least since the 16th century with the same general meaning of not speaking to the point but dodging around the matter. It comes from the sport of hunting, when hunters would hire beaters to, well, beat at the edges of a bush where birds were suspected to be hiding. The startled birds would then fly away from the beaters, leaving the hunters enough time to take aim and shoot at them. The round about actions of the beaters who would sneak up to the edges of the bush but never go straight into it.

spitting image
-To say that someone is the spitting image of another person means that they look exactly like the other. There are many theories as to how this expression came about, whether it was derived from split image (as if the original person was split into two or duplicated), a joining of spirit and image, or if it has been consistent over the years and does indeed come from spit. The latter is the most provable of all the known theories. In a 17th century work, John Partridge, a supposed astrologer, cites an example of a variant of the expression from around 1400 C.E.: "He's...as like these as th'hads't spit him." We find later versions of this phrase throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, all involving spit and some even mentioning spit out of his mouth in reference to the look-a-like. It seems that spit and image and spirit and image came after spitting image was already in use, so they are likely corruptions made to make more sense of the phrase. Other European languages have similar expressions, which also lends credence to the origin being the idea of spitting a duplicate out of one's mouth. For example, in French it is être le portrait craché de quelqu'un 'to be the spitting image of someone,' and in Norwegian it's som snytt ut av nesen paa 'as blown out of the nose of.' In England and the United States, there are some modern variations that turn up, some formed as more seemingly logical deviations of this idiomatic phrase: he's the spit of his father, spit and image, spitten image, and spit n' image.

dire straits
-To say that someone is in dire straits is to say that they are experiencing tremendous hardships and that their troubling circumstances do not look like they will turn out well. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find too much information on the origins of this phrase except that it was probably used for at least a century (if not longer) by the 1980's. At this point it was already considered a cliche expression. It gained a popular resurgence, however, due to the success of a British pop group called Dire Straits, which was formed in 1977. As to why these two particular words were linked, researchers are uncertain. However, the expression does make sense since dire means 'causing great fear of harm or calamity, indicating trouble' and straits, 'a narrow passageway, difficult times.'

Account Structure Update
Back by popular demand, Basic Accounts will be available to all users again by the end of the (northern hemisphere) summer. More information on the decision-making process and proposals relating to the future of Basic Accounts are in lj_2008.

New Themes
Two attractive and all-new Flexible Squares themes, "Circular" and "Circular Brown" are now available.


L to R: Circular and Brown

New V-Gifts
Give someone you care about the gift of enticement. With the new Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi v-gifts, all the significant people in your life will be able to share in the longing for the tasty edibles below. Plus, it reminds loved ones you think they're really sweet, really savory or just plain satisfying.


L to R: Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi

Ж-Men...but not the ones you might expect!
This week LJ Russia launched Ж-Men, a new comedy series about superheroes, inspired by the LJ communities dedicated to superheros, comics and cartoons. The title's "Ж" comes from ЖЖ, the nickname for LiveJournal in Russia.

Ж-Men's script is written by a group of LJ enthusiasts who also happen to be television professionals. Who knew? Following the premiere, five more episodes will be broadcast over the next two weeks. We hope you find the series fresh and enjoyable.

This is, of course, an experiment for LiveJournal. As always, we'd love to hear what you think!

computer, n. [kuhm-pyoo-ter, kŭm-pyōō-tər]
-The modern definition of this word is 'an electronic processing machine designed for the storage of data, performance of mathematical and logical tasks, and the display of results from these tasks.' This definition was coined in either 1941 or 1946. Prior to that, it was defined as 'a mechanical calculating machine' in 1897 and as 'a person who computes' in 1646. This noun was formed from English compute and the suffix -er, describing a person who performs the joined verb. Compute was borrowed either from French computer 'to compute' or directly from Latin computare 'to count, to sum up.' Computare was a combination of Latin com- 'together' and putare 'to settle an account, to count.' Interestingly, English computacion, the precursor to modern computation, was in use prior to compute by about 250 years. It was borrowed from Old French computation, a term used among scholars taken from Latin computationem, from computare.


Just in case someone was confused, though if they were then they likely aren't able to read this post. ;)

spruce up
-Meaning 'to make neat, trim; to make more presentable,' spruce up begins its history back in the 14th century C.E. At this time, the word Pruce, a shortened form of Prussian, was used to refer to things of Prussian origin, particularly fashionable clothing such as certain hats and quality leather. By the 16th century, we see that an s has been added to the beginning of pruce, creating spruce. Why this happened, scholars do not know. This was also the time when Prussian fashion was all the rage in Europe, so nobles and the wealthy who dressed like the glamorous Prussians were said to be wearing spruce, elegant clothes. Spruce came to mean 'fashionable, neat, dapper' in the 17th century. In 1672 C.E. the first known recording of the phrase spruce up is found in Sir George Etherege's The Man of Mode: "I took particular notice of one that is alwaies spruc'd up...."

Ich will ja nicht immer nur die schlechten Seiten des Arbeitsalltags betonen.  Wir haben hier ja durchaus auch unseren Spaß. Nichtzuletzt, weil meine Kollegin (seit Mai) ein "closet TV junkie" ist. Hehe. Rome. Buffy. Angel. Firefly. The Closer. Six Feet Under...und...*festhalten* Primeval. Ich bin fast vom Stuhl gekippt bei der Info:-) And she can quote from the shows as well...^-^

Großzügig wie ich bin, habe ich erstmal - zwecks Missionarsarbeit - die erste Season Dexter  für sie gebrannt.

Sie ist nach dem wochenendlichen "Genuß" etwas geplättet...but in a good way:-)))

Ich frag mich, was sie erst zu Burn Notice sagt...

Andere Leute ignorieren klappt auf dem Arbeitsweg nur insoweit, daß frau sich entweder in ein Buch vergräbt oder Musik auf die Ohren packt. Oder in meinem Fall heute ein Hörbuch. Aber dann gibt es Momente, wo der Verkehrslärm so laut ist, daß auch die Kopfhörer versagen *donnernde LKWs*  Seufz. Da heißt es nur: Aushalten!

Gleichermaßen gehört es auch nicht zum guten Ton, seinen mp3-Player (hatte heute Morgen keine Zeit mehr, das Ding auf den iPod zu ziehen) mit zum Essen in die Kantine zu nehmen, weil man weiterhören will.  Wenn man dann aber aufgrund von Platzmangel mit der verhassten Kollegin 26 an einen Tisch ziehen muß, wäre das doch eigentlich gerechtfertigt, oder? Denn, wie ich feststellen durfte (um mal aus Highlander zu zitieren):

The alternative is unthinkable

Ich weiß jetzt, daß sie zur Zeit extrem mit den Zähnen knirscht und deshalb eine Schiene tragen muß nachts, aber die sei ja so unangenehm, nur müsse das ja sein, weil sie schon Kieferschmerzen hat. - "Hatte ich auch schon", lautet meine Antwort, bevor ich wieder eine Gabel Salat nehme.

Drei Minuten später erfahre ich, daß ihre Oma jetzt wieder aus dem Krankenhaus raus ist, aber wieder ein 500 Euro-Antibiotikum bekommt und wie gut, daß sie doch privatversichert sei. Außerdem habe ihre Oma gestern Abend als erstes nach einem Bier und Schokolade gefragt...  - Meine Antwort "Na ob das so toll ist mit dem Antibiotikum..." - "Ach, die Schwestern sagten, das geht schon, das eine Bier." -"...." Weiteres Zerteilen meiner zu hart geratenen Pommes.

Fünf Minuten danach kommt die Frage, ob ich denn meine Brille tatsächlich komplett auseinandernehmen könnte. - "Ja."

Dann kurze Zeit später, daß sie ja so müde sei, weil sie schon um 6 Uhr aufgestanden sei.  - "Ich auch. Und ich bin erst gegen 2.30h eingeschlafen." - "Ich gegen eins. Und das, obwohl nachts kein Gewitter war und das Telefon geklingelt hat (dummes Gekicher einfügen)." - "......"    In welchem Zusammenhang die Gewitterallüren unseres Telefons, die ich mal irgendwann kundgetan habe, dazu stehen, weiß ich nicht. Blödes Gelaber um des blöden Gelabers willen, schätze ich.

"Ich habe jetzt einen neuen Klingelton auf meinem Handy."  -- ".!.!.!.!.!" Ich stand kurz davor, meine Gabel in anderes Fleisch als mein Steak zu rammen. Einen tiefen Atemzug und einen Moment beachtlicher Selbstbeherrschung später habe ich mein Tablett genommen und bin abgezogen. Mein Dessert wollte ich dann doch woanders genießen. Ohne mp3-Player, weil das käme am Schreibtisch nicht so gut, aber dafür ohne Studentin, die Konversation machen will um jeden Preis. Nicht, wenn der Preis meine Nerven sind.

noisome, adj., [noi-suhm, noi-səm]
-Its similarity to English noise might lead a person astray in trying to figure out the meaning of today's word. Its definition is 'offensive or disgusting , harmful' and is not derived from the same Latin roots as noise, despite their likeness. Today's word first appeared in the mid 14th century C.E. as Middle English noiesum 'harmful, troublesome,' with 15th century variants noyesom, noysom. Middle English noiesom was created from Middle English noye 'harm, misfortune,' which was an altered form of anoi 'annoyance.' This last word was taken directly from Old French anoier, enoier 'to annoy, weary, vex,' from Vulgar Latin inodaire 'make loathsome.' This in turn was derived from Latin esse in odio 'to be hateful,' odio being the ablative of Latin odium 'hatred.' The first recording of noisome meaning 'foul-smelling' was recorded in 1577 C.E.

*schnüff* At long, long last, she saw the Moonlight!

Ich habe ja zugegebenerweise eine ganze Weile gebraucht (so ist das halt bei mir, ich schaue verhältnismäßig wenig, wenn es gerade "in" und "aktuell" ist...rolle mit den Augen, wenn es für den Rest der Welt kaum ein anderes Gesprächsthema gibt, und weigere mich dadurch fast noch mehr, auf den Wagen aufzuspringen -- ich nenne es mein "Harry Potter"-Syndrom, weil es damals genauso anfing und bei mir exakt die gleiche Verweigerungshaltung auslöste.

Im Laufe der letzten 10 Tage oder so habe ich dann mal diese Lücke geschlossen...und wo der Rest der Welt bereits mit der Staatstrauer abgeschlossen hat und allmählich wieder in andere Richtungen schaut, möchte ich gerade mit einem Paket Taschentüchern unter die Decke kriechen. Vorzugsweise zusammen mit Beth und Mick...

Was hilft am besten gegen diesen Spontan-Entzug? Richtig. Von vorne anfangen.

Oder als Alternative nach langer Zeit mal wieder "Veronica Mars" schauen. Hmm...just for the Jason Dohring fix.. Aber VM hat keine Vampire...

Normalerweise ist bei uns nie was los. Zwei mal im Jahr Schützenfest, Weihnachtsmarkt und Handwerkermarkt, nichts was man nicht in 20 Minuten durch hätte...

Dieses Wochenende gab es sowohl einen Mittelalterlichen Markt und ein Folk Festival.

Zuerst gingen wir gestern zum mittelalterlichen Martk. Es war voll, sehr voll, zu voll. Ich wurde mehr oder weniger an den Ständen vorbei geschoben. Nicht dass es da wirklich etwas interessantes zu sehen gegeben hätte... es war fast ausshließließ Modeschmuck und Freßstände. Aber nichts, was mich gereizt hätte: Currywurst, Nudeln, Mais, Currywurst. Und es roch noch nicht einmal lecker.
Auf dem Markt lagerten sogar zwei 'Rittergruppen'. Die mussten sich vorkommen, wie im Zoo - nur dass sie auf der falschen Seite saßen.
Nach etwa zwanzig Minuten hatten wir genug.
Unterwegs holten Karin und ich in einer Pommesbude Fritten, während Hilmar sich ein Döner organisierte.

Auf zum Folkfestival - und ich bereute es, etwas gegessen zu haben. Denn dort roch es richtig lecker nach Gulaschsuppe.
Es war eine kleine Veranstaltung. Ca. 200 Zuschauer und eine heimelige Atmosphäre.
Wir kamen genau richtig, denn Baleadenn kletterten gerade auf die Bühne. Richtig schöner Folk. Meistens instumental und nur selten Gesang.
Genau das richtige für einen Sommerabend.
Das versöhnte uns mit dem miesen mittelalterlichen Markt.
Leider wurde es schnell ziemlich kalt, so dass wir uns nach dem Ende von Baleadenn auf den Heimwegmachen, ohne die letzte Band abzuwarten.