tag:www.naturelich.com,2009://2 2007-04-12T23:12:49Z Life as Naturelich as it gets. Read my personal stuff in broken Denglish. Movable Type Pro 4.25 tag:www.naturelich.com,2007://2.1066 2007-04-12T23:11:19Z 2007-04-12T23:12:49Z

Very impressive proof that We do not always see what we think we see....

Naturelich We do not always see what we think we see. ]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.1031 2006-09-05T01:30:15Z 2007-02-22T22:48:37Z

I have finally managed to upgrade my MovableType installation to v3.32. Although I was already using the Tagwire plugin for Naturelich Games, I decided to have a closer look at the standard v3.3 tagging features. Naturelich Games is fully up...

Naturelich Tagwire plugin for Naturelich Games, I decided to have a closer look at the standard v3.3 tagging features. Naturelich Games is fully up and running now, including the tag cloud (modified layout) and a new Recent comment Widget. It took a couple of hours to get there. In the beginning, the whole standard tagging did not work at all. I was already afraid to have permanently broken my MT installation. But all of a sudden, I thought about turning off Tagwire. What an easy fix.... After this, the operation went pretty smoothly. I have already modified my previous hacks to work with Cache-enabled MT-XSearch, beautiful tag search link URLs and the new syntax of standard MT Tags. I can totally recommend Everybody loves tags! by Jay Allen with an in-depth look at some of the tagging features. So, althogether, I am pretty happy with MT 3.3. Happy and proud to finally have finished and anxious to see what additional new features this release has to offer: The tagging is nice and adds some minor improvements to Tagwire. Particularly the auto-complete AJAX feature is wonderful. It will probably take a couple of days (weeks?) until I have decided on my "new" stylesheets (actually, I am basically copying here any styles from The Style Contest or Style Catcher. In addition to tagging, the widgets seem most promising. Although, ATM, the set of available widgets is not too big, but I hope for the real experts to create something to excite me. For now, let's call it a night...]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.1017 2006-08-07T21:51:03Z 2006-09-04T22:04:58Z

The XBOX 360 game Project Gotham Racing 3 has a great new feature. Photos can be taken in the racing game and uploaded to the PGR 3 Photos website. More about this can be found on Xboxic. Below you can...

Naturelich Project Gotham Racing 3 has a great new feature. Photos can be taken in the racing game and uploaded to the PGR 3 Photos website. More about this can be found on Xboxic. Below you can see some of the pictures I have taken during the game... ]]> ]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.1005 2006-07-14T08:31:29Z 2006-07-19T00:22:32Z

A three-day trip broght me back to Big Apple. I had been to New York City on another occassion for just one day, giving me time to enjoy the view from Empire State Building and taking a very quick tour...

Naturelich Planet Hollywood on Time Square. We also enjoyed a steak in Michael Jordan's Steakhouse in Grand Central Station. But the biggest highlights for me was a vist to the MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was able to see several paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and many many more and I would have loved to stay a little bit longer. As some of you might know, I am a big fan of bridges. Therefore, most of the pictures were taken when crossing the Brooklyn Bridge (yet another personal highlight). New York City stereotype]]> Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Bridge (detail) Brooklyn Bridge (close up) The two OO taken from Metro station High St - Brooklyn Bridge NYC police The Millenium Hotel at Ground Zero Ground Zero Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center Garden View (yes, there is some green outside of Central Park) Sculpture in MoMA Radio City Music Hall Warning - Better play it safe! ]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.1003 2006-06-30T21:59:34Z 2006-09-04T19:33:00Z

It's my second time in Berlin this month. Earlier, I had visited the Waldbühne to enjoy a fabulous Metallica concert. The Waldbühne is adjacent to Berlin's Olympic Stadium - the arena for today's quarter finale match between Germany and Argentina....

Naturelich Optimists]]> Der Holländer - A perfect place to drink beer and to chit chat about The Netherlands game against Portugal... I shall say no more... Berlin Olympic Stadium The Olympic Rings Two hours to go before the match German team warming-up The fans and a stadium that is starting to get filled The teams while the National Anthems are played The teams before the shootout Celebrating makes taking pictures difficult]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.999 2006-06-21T21:14:15Z 2006-09-04T19:33:20Z

On Friday evening I will be leaving for Munich. Germany is playing Sweden in the Round of 16 and I am very lucky to have a ticket. Flight and hotel have been booked. Now we need a victory... :D...

Naturelich On Friday evening I will be leaving for Munich. Germany is playing Sweden in the Round of 16 and I am very lucky to have a ticket. Flight and hotel have been booked. Now we need a victory... :D tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.991 2006-06-09T17:58:41Z 2006-09-04T19:34:32Z

It's 17:50. 10 minutes to go. The fans unroll a big banner. The players get back onto the field. It's probably the greatest moment in their career so far. We stand for the National Anthems. Die Luft knistert. 60,000 sing...

Naturelich The players get back onto the field. It's probably the greatest moment in their career so far. We stand for the National Anthems. Die Luft knistert. 60,000 sing the German Anthem. This is loud. Gänsehaut. Two minutes to go. 17:58. The teams are ready to go. The game has been kicked off. Germany vs. Costa Rica, June 9th 2006 - FIFA World Cup, Germany. 18:00. We are singing: Jetzt gehts los! 2 billion people in front of their TV. The FIFA World Cup 2006 has started. It's been a breath-taking day... So far. Now, let's hope we'll win... :D We will do anything to support the team. I will be losing my voice. That's for sure. After six minutes, Lahm scores his first goal. What a great shot, it is simply unbelievable. We are dancing on our seats, partying with each other but also with total strangers. The atmosphere is great. One can feel the relief... A few minutes later - 1:1. From our position, we clearly see it as being offsides. The guy in the row behind us calls someone in front of a TV set. It's only been passive. A regular goal. We are shocked. It takes about two minutes and we start again: Deutschland, Deutschland, Deutschland,... Klose, 2:1. Yeeeees! The best birthday present he probably ever gave to himself. And to Germany. Well done, Miro, we are so happy again. It's going up again. The game is not that good but it's certainly thrilling and intoxicating. Halftime. We try to get another beer. Any one person can only buy three beers at a time. Can you believe it? The people here are really friendly. The mood is great. The mobile phones are running hot. It is a dream. Second half. Time flies. After a few more minutes. Klose 3:1. Great goal, directly in front of our eyes. Our mood is getting better and better. Until the second goal. 3:2. Paulo Wanchope, a name to remember. Again, we cannot shake the feeling that this has been offsides. Why don't the referees see it? It's a nightmare. The defense is a nightmare and almost all the attacks go through Schweinsteiger. Frings eases our minds with a great goal. 4:2. This is it. It's been a great great game and a thrilling opening game. The best I have ever seen. And the first I have seen live.]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.996 2006-06-09T15:45:00Z 2006-09-04T19:34:32Z

After the opening ceremony, Michael Ballack steps onto the field. His injury got a lot of media attention in the last few days. Although he wanted to play today and said he was fit, Klinsmann did obviously not let him....

Naturelich Lehmann is the first player on the field. He is followed by the entire German team. We can see Borowski, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Schneider, Lahm, Klose, Metzelder and all the others. The fans are getting all excited. It is 17:14. Only 46 minutes to go before the opening match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Five minutes later, the Costa Rica players came onto the field. The fan block is getting really excited. At about 17:40 Toni Braxton and another guy give us the honor of a "nice" song. Not my type of music, really, but a nice dress (at least). Although Toni's shoes were not made for a soccer field, I guess :D ]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.994 2006-06-09T14:59:02Z 2006-09-04T19:34:32Z

Some impressions from the opening ceremony. And, NO, not all Germans wear these suits! Bavarians in formation It's getting loud Nice formation Hay stacks - The rural Germany (100 years ago)...

Naturelich Bavarians in formation It's getting loud Nice formation Hay stacks - The rural Germany (100 years ago) ]]> Great atmosphere Modern Germany: Hip hop Champions from 1978 and 1998 Champions from 1954, 1974 and 1990 Champions from Brazil: 1958, 1962, , 1970, 1994, 2002 A great moment Participant flags Nice dress Herbert Grönemeyer - Celebrate the Day The finale ]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.993 2006-06-09T13:40:30Z 2006-09-04T19:34:32Z

The ticket control points did not require us to show our ID cards. They only checked whether the ticket was for the correct game. Now, we are in and we are pretty excited at the same time. After getting some...

Naturelich The police is everywhere. Even in mini format The arena... ...with a view to downtown Munich The field is still covered for the opening ceremony The stadium is still pretty empty (15:21) while many fans enjoy the atmosphere in the stadium and look for their seats Working for 2 billion people]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.992 2006-06-09T13:06:00Z 2006-09-04T19:34:32Z

June 9th, 2006. Düsseldorf Airport, about 9:00 hrs. We are enjoying a cup of coffee at the airport and waiting for our plane to leave. Destination: Germany, Munich, FIFA WM Stadium, Germany vs. Costa Rica. I did not sleep at...

Naturelich FIFA WM Stadium, Germany vs. Costa Rica. I did not sleep at all last night. Well, maybe an hour. I checked my alarm clock for the last time at 5:15 and remember looking at it at 6:30 again. I am so nervous! Can the German team win? The last two years have had their ups and downs. A lot of downs, but a few ups, too. We'll be reading this again all on our flight as we are equipped with Lufthansa's WM Magazin, the latest edition of Kicker and a Rheinische Post. About 11:00 hrs. Munich, Airport. A lot of VIP guests are being picked up. You can see plenty of Sponsor limousine cars picking up the guests. We have our own transportation. A friend is going to pick us up. After some going back and forth we make our way to the stadium to pick up the tickets. Option tickets in this case. But first we see this - across the Autobahn. How did Jens Lehmann feel upon his arrival?! :D My heartbeat is getting faster. I am in line at the Stadium Ticket Center. This is where dreams are made. Will I have all the material to get the tickets? I am checking my ID card for the hundreth time. Yes, it's there. Good, all is under control. Now, it's a matter of time, the queue is long. But some very friendly customer service agents wave me forward. Your letter is up. The tickets will be given away by first letter of your last name. We are in Germany!Everything is well organized. All the people here are friendly. I had expected worse but this was a remarkably unpainful experience. In contrast I am grateful and thankful to all these people. Some discussions at the booth next to mine get a little bit louder. The sign reads Trouble Shooting ONLY. After 20 minutes I am ready to go. Hell, I had expected to wait 3 hours or more. 12:30hrs. We rejoin and drive to the Englischer Garten to enjoy lunch. Time does not fly by. My nervousness is increasing. One hour goes by. We then take a detour to check-in to the hotel. From there we take a taxi. It's 13:30 and congestion time. Less than five hours to go. The taxi driver has to drop us off as we didn't have a parking permit. Yes, we are in Germany. Everything is well organized, even the parking space needs to be pre-ordered. Normally, this would really annoy me but today is different. All is going well. It's going to be a party, a real Fußballfest. I ask several fans for their tip. Everyone goes for 3:0. I agree. We take our way through security. Since we left our bags at the hotel it all goes smoothly. The Costa Rice fans are in a good mood. The German fans are in a good mood. It's peaceful. We wish each other good luck and see this... And a big sponsoring area with many booths. Here is one of them ;) It is 15:06. Is this an omen? And for what? Or is it just me... ;)]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.990 2006-06-05T11:59:51Z 2006-06-07T16:35:55Z

Tomorrow morning we are heading for the Metallica concert in Berlin. This concert is one of three Metallcia gigs in Germany (the other two are at the Rock am Ring / Rock im Park festival). As a part of the...

Naturelich Escape From the Studio Tour 2006 we are looking forward to a great concert in a wonderful arena. Berlin's Waldbühne is loacted directly next to the Olympic Stadium. Back in 2003, we had seen Metallica at the Stadion an der Wuhlheide. Metallica had just released their St. Anger album. Three years ago we were able to get to the first row. This year we will prefer a spot in the seated area. Not only are the acoustics superior (we tested this 2 years ago), but with over 30 years, now, I just don't have the energy to compete with the energetic pogo-16-year-olds in row #1. I hope to get a report up soon after the concert... :)]]> tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.986 2006-05-13T10:30:47Z 2006-09-04T19:34:32Z

My Worldcup ticket has arrived. Finally. What a great day. Looking forward to Germany making it to this semi-final :)...

Naturelich My Worldcup ticket has arrived. Finally. What a great day. Looking forward to Germany making it to this semi-final :) tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.981 2006-05-10T00:31:05Z 2006-05-10T00:36:44Z

I am currently staying in Anaheim for a conference. From here it is not far to Disneyland and it is also not too far to Los Angeles. After our arrival on Saturday we have been to Santa Monica beach. The...

Naturelich I am currently staying in Anaheim for a conference. From here it is not far to Disneyland and it is also not too far to Los Angeles. After our arrival on Saturday we have been to Santa Monica beach. The weather was great but not too hot - it was not that busy as I had expected. Seeing the pacific ocean again ist certainly cool. We used Sunday to do some shopping. We visited three shopping malls in Anaheim which were pretty disappointing. After extending our search radius we decided to go to Ontario Mills mall. Three shirts, one pullover and a new pair of shoes. Pretty successful, I guess. :D On Monday evening after the conference we went to dinner at an Australian restaurant (Outback something). The steak was superb and we had a monster-sized onion. I bet this thing was genetically engineered. We are going to grap some lunch later this afternoon and heading out tomorrow. The flight will be about 12 hours - wish me luck for an exit row seat.... ;) tag:www.naturelich.com,2006://2.972 2006-04-15T00:20:30Z 2006-04-17T09:47:59Z

I went over to Shelak's and Raven's place today for some boardgaming (more to follow on the games blog). I had bought Funkenschlag (Powergrid) earlier this morning which pretty much settled the first session. After finishing the starter, we enjoyed...

Naturelich Urbi et Orbi.]]>